Tornadoes and Flooding Rain Hit the South, Midwest Christmas Week 2015

A multi-day siege of deadly tornadoes and flooding rain hammered parts of the South and Midwest during Christmas week 2015.

(COMPLETE NEWS RECAP: Christmas Tornadoes, Flooding)

As of December 29, a preliminary 55 tornadoes were estimated in a seven-day span, according to severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, including on six consecutive days from Dec. 23 through Dec. 28. 

Meteorologist Adam Dean found only 1982 and 1953 had six straight December days with at least one tornado in the U.S., dating to 1950. 

Sadly, it's also been the deadliest December for tornadoes in the U.S. since 1953, according to Forbes.

Over 400 river gauges reported river flooding, according to the National Weather Service, from Texas to Ohio and Mississippi to Virginia on December 28, thanks to multiple rounds of torrential rain.

(MORE: Record Flooding For Some)

Below is a day-by-day breakdown of the severe weather and flooding on Christmas week.

Monday, Dec. 28:

Just before 5 a.m. CST, an EF2 tornado destroyed a mobile home and damaged roofs of several homes in Lee County, Arkansas, southwest of Marianna.

A possible tornado early Monday morning caused damage near Seminary, Mississippi. Trees and power lines were downed and a roof was blown off a house. 

A probable tornado late Monday afternoon downed trees, damaged a shed and vehicles near Trinity, North Carolina in Union County. This shower without any cloud-to-ground lightning seemed to have acquired rotation along a warm front, according to severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes.

Water rescues have been reported in parts of southern Missouri Monday morning, including in Jasper and Howell Counties.

Sunday, Dec. 27:

Torrential rain triggered major flooding in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

Parts of the Ozarks picked up 10 inches of rain in under 36 hours. Multiple water rescues were reported in southern Missouri and homes were flooded in the towns of Noel and Anderson, Missouri. Flooding shutdown a stretch of Interstate 49 in Carthage, Missouri and eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 in St. Peters, Missouri.

Widespread flooding was reported in Hopkins, Franklin and Red River Counties, Texas. Almost all secondary roads in Scott County, Arkansas, were closed due to flooding. Roads were also flooded and closed in central and southern Illinois, including the towns of Pana, Windsor, Tuscola and Villa Grove.

A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed a pair of EF1 tornadoes struck southern Arkansas. The first tornado touched down Sunday afternoon in Bearden, Arkansas, in eastern Ouachita County about 85 miles south-southwest of Little Rock, removing roofs from homes and smashing some storefront windows.

A second EF1 tornado was sighted by law enforcement and confirmed by the NWS storm survey west of Hampton, Arkansas. 

Later that afternoon, an EF2 tornado damaged homes in Harrison County, Texas. That evening, a pair of EF1 tornadoes touched down near the northwest Louisiana towns of Longwood and Blanchard, lifting a mobile home off its foundation.

Incidentally, Sunday's rain pushed St. Louis to its all-time wettest year (previously 57.96 inches in 2008) and wettest December (previously 7.82 inches in 1982). 

Saturday, Dec. 26:

The National Weather Service has confirmed that at least nine tornadoes struck north-central Texas late Saturday, including in the greater Dallas area. Three of these were killer tornadoes.

This includes one tornado that produced EF4 damage in Garland and EF3 damage in Rowlett. This is only the third EF4 tornado in Dallas County since 1927. The tornado moved along a 13-mile path in Dallas and Rockwall Counties, killing eight people.

An EF2 tornado caused two deaths in Copeville, Texas, while another tornado killed one person in Blue Ridge, Texas.

Aside from the aforementioned tornado reports, winds gusted to 105 mph at Mid-Way Regional Airport in Midlothian, Texas. Hail to the size of half dollars (1.25 inches) was reported near Apache, Oklahoma.

Elsewhere, morning tornadoes were reported near Byars and Hubbard Hill in Texas, and an unconfirmed tornado was also reported in McClain County, Oklahoma.

Christmas Day (Friday):

An EF-0 tornado caused tree damage about three miles southwest of the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facility in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Thunderstorms caused downed trees and power lines on the north side of Columbus, Mississippi.

A preliminary EF-2 tornado affected the southwest side of Birmingham, Alabama early Friday evening, where local officials reported structural damage and residents trapped in their homes. As of Friday night, the city of Birmingham reported than a two square mile radius area suffered damage from the storm.

An EF-0 tornado also has been confirmed near Pineville, Mississippi, which downed trees and damaged a chicken house Friday afternoon.

High water left numerous roads impassable in Cleveland, Tennessee. Several feet of water flooded a home and bridges were washed out in the Fairview, Alabama vicinity.

People were rescued from flash floods in several Alabama counties on Christmas Day, and mudslides were reported in parts of northwest Georgia.

Roads have been washed out in many locations across northern Alabama, which prompted the governor to issue a state of emergency for the entire state.

It was the wettest Christmas Day on record in both Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, as well as Knoxville and Chattanooga in Tennessee.

Thursday, Dec. 24: 

Tree damage near Culloden, Alabama may have been caused by a tornado in the morning. Further west, an isolated supercell caused a tornado in El Dorado County, California during the afternoon. Multiple videos shared over social media showed a relatively small tornado in the vicinity of Folsom Lake. Spotty, minor damage was reported from that tornado.

A flash flood emergency was issued for Gilmer County, Georgia, where river gauges were near or approaching record levels. Rescues and evacuations were reported in the county as well, according to an emergency manager report to the National Weather Service.

Recent heavy rain caused mudslides in Macon County, North Carolina, and flash flooding in other parts of northern Georgia.

Wednesday, Dec. 23:

The preliminary estimated tornado count for Dec. 23 is 25, according to severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel.

A supercell thunderstorm that tracked from northern Mississippi into Tennessee produced two separate tornadoes with a gap in the damage near Como, Mississippi. The first tornado produced damage up to EF3 intensity along a 63-mile path in northern Mississippi. A second tornado from the same supercell produced damage up to EF4 intensity on a 75-mile path from near Tyro, Mississippi, to Selmer, Tennessee.

Dr. Forbes said that second tornado's 75-mile path is the longest he is aware of in the month of December.

Elsewhere, isolated tornadoes have been confirmed in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia. For Michigan, it was the first December tornado on record there.

Strong, destructive tornadoes are not completely unusual for the Deep South in December. In fact, some particularly damaging tornadoes have occurred in December before.

(MORE: Deadliest December Tornadoes)

About 170 reports of wind damage have been received in a swath from southeast Oklahoma, eastward across the Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley, to as far north as southeastern Lower Michigan between 7 a.m EST Wednesday and 7 a.m. EST Thursday. The most significant wind-damage was in Sharp County, Arkansas, where several homes were reportedly destroyed. There have been multiple reports of large hail, mainly from eastern Arkansas into Kentucky, which have caused some damage to vehicles.

Tuesday, Dec. 22:

There were no significant severe weather reports on Tuesday, however heavy rain did cause some flash flooding in parts of South Carolina, including around the Columbia area.

Monday, Dec. 21:

The National Weather Service confirmed three EF1 tornadoes in southwest Louisiana on Monday. 

There were reports of trees down near Calcasieu, Louisiana, along with power outages and one person injured in a camping trailer. South of Alexandria, Louisiana near Woodworth, winds during a thunderstorm damaged a car and trees were downed.

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PHOTOS: Severe Weather Dec. 23, 2015