Roughly fifty tornados were sighted in Kansas last week, according to The Wichita Eagle. The most powerful was an EF-4 that grew to a half-mile wide. The twister was on the ground for 90 minutes and its roar could be heard two miles away. This sort of activity is par for the course in Tornado Alley. Bryan Baerg, a meteorologist with the Topeka branch of the National Weather Service, explained: “It’s late May, so it comes with the territory.”
While the number of tornados for the week is estimated at 50, the exact number isn’t known. That’s because some reports may be multiple views of the same tornado. However, Baerg noted, the most important number to emerge from this week. That’s how many people have been killed by the twisters.