Warmer Winters Could Mean More Tornadoes in December, Like Those in NC, TN

Residents of Garner, North Carolina, have spent the week cleaning up after an F1 tornado damaged more than 20 homes and left four of them uninhabitable.

The Raleigh News & Observer reported that warmer winters already have resulted more storms in December and February, months that had historically seen few tornadoes, according to a state climatologist. The temperature in eastern North Carolina on Sunday had reached an unseasonably warm 65 degrees before the 110-mph tornado touched down southeast of Raleigh, the newspaper reported.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey urged property owners across the state to make sure their insurance policies are up to date before other weather events strike.

“This is a tragic reminder of the importance of being prepared for natural disasters and knowing what’s covered in both your homeowners’ and automobile insurance policies,” Causey said in a statement.

The severe weather was the result of the same storm front that spawned tornadoes in central Tennessee last weekend. The storms ripped up dozens of homes and businesses in Clarksville, Hendersonville and Nashville, killed six people and left many more injured, the Associated Press reported.