Two tornadoes touched down in Bell County, Texas, injuring 23 people and one with critical injuries. Salado, Texas, a town about midway between Austin and Waco on I-35, was struck by the more damaging tornadoes on the ground. The tornado was first reported by emergency responders. In its wake were downed power lines, flattened trees, and destroyed buildings. In a news conference Tuesday, the Bell County Judge said there was not much left in the tornado's wake. Large trees uprooted, overturned and stripped. Many buildings were reduced to rubble. There were power poles scattered all over the place. It's pretty devastating. The storm system brought hail to the region. The largest hailstone on record in Texas was 6.4 inches across, and the Weather Channel reported at least one 5.5-inch hailstone from last night's severe weather.
The Bell County twisters were two of at least eight tornadoes that emerged last night, mainly in Texas and Iowa, as part of a larger storm system that also caused snowstorms in Montana, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. In Pony, Montana, 47 inches of snow fell in 24 hours.
More severe weather is expected to hit the Midwest and South later in the week as the storm continues to move East. There will be storms, tornado threats, heavy winds, and more massive hail across an area stretching from Louisiana to Michigan.
Although scientists have been able to link climate change to an increase in severe weather events like hurricanes, heatwaves, and flooding, the connection between climate change and tornadoes is less clear. According to a study published in the journal Science, the incidence of tornados has gone up across the U.S. The relationship between a warming world and worsening twisters is murky at the moment.
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