It's only the start of May and we've already had an active tornado season in various parts of the country. That makes this week's topic of the Across the Sky podcast even more timely.
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In this third episode, the members of the Lee Weather team βΒ Matt Holiner Β of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago,Β Kirsten Lang Β of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma,Β Joe Martucci Β of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., andΒ Sean Sublette Β of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia β talk about covering and forecasting tornadoes as well as personal experiences living through extreme weather events.
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They discuss being part of storm chasing teams, the planning of live tornado coverage and severe weather systems, and experiencing the devastation first hand after a tornado passes through.
Be sure to listen next week as we further expand on tornado season as we welcome an expert to discuss tornado alley.
Photos: See tornadoes' deadly destruction over the years
May 22, 2011: Joplin, Missouri
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
In this May 25, 2011, photo, Beverly Winans hugs her daughter Debbie Surlin while salvaging items from Winans' devastated home in Joplin, Missouri. The deadliest tornado to hit the United States in the last several decades struck on May 22, 2011, leveling a miles-wide swath of Joplin and leaving 161 people dead.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
April 2011: Southeastern U.S.
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Tuscaloosa Fire Lt. Brian Phillips climbs a pile of rubble in search of survivors or bodies at an apartment building in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after 362 tornadoes hit the southeastern United States over three days in April 2011, killing an estimated 321 people.Β Alabama was the hardest hit, with a death toll of more than 250 in that state alone.
AP Photo/Dave Martin
Feb. 5, 2008: 'Super Tuesday' outbreak
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
New cars and trucks at a Chevrolet dealership sit under the wreckage from a tornado that hitΒ Mountain View, Ark., on Feb. 5, 2008. The so-called Super Tuesday outbreak of 87 tornadoes in the southeastern United States killed 57 people.
AP Photo/Danny Johnston
April 2014: Southeast and Midwest
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
An American flag waves from a makeshift flag pole in front of a concrete slab that once was a house in Louisville, Miss., after an April 28,Β 2014, tornado destroyed the house. An outbreak of dozens of tornadoes, stirred up by a powerful storm system, hit the Southeast and Midwest over a three-day period in April 2014 and killed 32 people in Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
May 20, 2013: Moore, Oklahoma
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
A tornado killed 24 people on May 20, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. The tornado had winds over 200 miles per hour, giving it the most severe rating of EF-5.
AP Photo/Alonzo Adams
March 18, 1925: Missouri, Illinois and Indiana
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
This March 1925 photo shows an overturned house that was carried more than 50 feet from its foundation following a tornado in Griffen, Ind. The March 18 tornadoes that hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana killed nearly 700 people, topping the list of the deadliest tornadoes in the United States.
AP Photo
May 11, 1953: Waco, Texas
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Bolstered by heavy equipment,Β workers start the gigantic task of cleaning up wreckage remaining in the downtown area of Waco, Texas, in the aftermath of a May 11, 1953, tornado. It was one of the top 10 deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history, killing 114 people.
AP Photo
Nov. 6, 2005: Evansville, Indiana
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
As others stand intact, debris from destroyed mobile homes litter the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in the aftermath of a tornado in Evansville, Ind., on Nov. 6, 2005. The tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, causing 20 deaths, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands.
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
May 10, 2008: Southwest Missouri
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
A vehicle was dumped along highway 86 north of Racine, Mo., by a tornado that hit the area in southwest Missouri on May 10, 2008. Fourteen people were killed and hundreds injured in the tornado.
AP Photo/Mike Gullett
May 25, 2008: Iowa
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
The first floor of a house is all that remains on Sept. 8, 2008, in Parkersburg, Iowa, more than three months after a May 25 tornado that destroyed and damaged hundreds of homes in the area and left nine people dead.
AP Photo/Kevin Sanders
Feb. 29, 2012: Illinois
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Family members and friends try to salvage what they canΒ on Feb. 29, 2012, in Harrisburg, Ill., after a tornado destroyed their neighborhood homes. The devastating EF4 tornado claimed eight lives.
AP Photo/Seth Perlman
Feb. 11, 2009: Oklahoma
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Three-year-old Brooklyn Hickman helps look through the rubble of her grandfather's trailer home in Lone Grove, Okla., onΒ Feb. 11, 2009, after a tornado struck, killing eight people. Weather woes including an unusual series of February twisters were among the top Oklahoma news stories of that year.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
April 28, 2011: Virginia
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Downed traffic lights are seen after an EF3 tornado struck on April 28, 2011, in Glade Spring, Va. Three people were killed, and several homes and truck stops along I-81 were severely damaged.
AP Photo/Jeff Gentner
June 8, 1984: Barneveld, Wisconsin
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
As dawn broke on June 8, 1984, rescuers got their first view of a destroyed Barneveld in Wisconsin. An F5 tornado ripped through the village, killing nine people and destroying most of the small community. The powerful tornado had winds over 300 mph.
Wisconsin State Journal photo
May 1955: Udall, Kansas
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Photos of destruction from the 1955 tornado that destroyed Udall, Kan., are displayed in the town's museum. The May 1955 tornado is among the top 25 deadliest in U.S. history, killing 80 people.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
March 2, 2012: Indiana
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
People clear debris from a farm field on the outskirts of Marysville, Ind., after a tornado with 150 mph winds raked through the southern Indiana hamlet on March 2, 2012. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that left 13 people dead in southern Indiana.
AP Photo/Charles Wilson
October 2013: Nebraska
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Several buildings sit damaged Oct. 5, 2013, in Wayne, Neb., after a deadly storm system that buried parts of Wyoming and South Dakota in heavy, wet snow also brought powerful thunderstorms packing tornadoes to the Great Plains, causing millions of dollars in damage. Some of the greatest damage from tornadoes was in Wayne, a town of 9,600.
AP Photo/Dave Weaver
May 4, 2003: Missouri
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Steve Jones lifts his grandfather's headstone into place at the Stockton City Cemetery in Stockton, Mo., after most of the headstones and nearly all the trees in the cemetery were knocked over by a May 4, 2003, tornado that killed five people.Β
AP Photo/John S. Stewart
June 11, 2008: Iowa
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
Remains of a ranger's house can be seen after a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in the remote Loess Hills, Iowa, on June 11, 2008. The EF3 tornado killed four people.
AP Photo/Loren Sawyer - Onawa Sentinel
July 8, 2014: Upstate New York
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
People sort through debris of a destroyed house after aΒ July 8, 2014, storm, in Smithfield, N.Y. The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado destroyed homes in upstate New York where four people were killed.
AP Photo/Mike Groll
Dec. 10-11, 2021: Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio Valley, southern US
Updated
Nov 7, 2023
An overturned tree sits in front of a tornado-damaged home Dec. 11, 2021,Β in Mayfield, Ky. On Dec. 10-11, violent and rare December tornadoes ripped across Kentucky and several other states. Kentuckyβs death toll alone from the storms is now 80. All together, the storms killed more than 90 people in five states. The National Weather Service recorded at least 41 tornadoes on Dec. 10 and 11, including 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky.Β According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, eight states β Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio and Indiana β reported tornadoes.
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey