From tornadoes to tropical storms, fall 2023 featured some wild weather
A number of weather events shook up the U.S. and other parts of the world between Sept. 24 and Dec. 20.
Iceland volcano erupts after weeks of earthquakes
USGS Associate Volcano Hazards Program Coordinator Wendy Stovall said the Iceland volcano eruption was no surprise after weeks of earthquakes in Grindavik.
With astronomical winter beginning Thursday, FOX Weather is taking a look back at some of the wildest weather moments of fall.
From a tropical storm to tornadoes, a number of weather events shook up the U.S. between Sept. 24 and Dec. 20.
Tornadoes in Tennessee
Residents and visitors work to clear debris in search of pets and belongings of a destroyed home in the aftermath of a tornado on December 10, 2023 in Clarksville, Tennessee.
(Jon Cherry / Getty Images)
Disaster came in the form of tornadoes in Tennessee nearly two weeks before Christmas. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed at least 11 tornadoes struck the Volunteer State and Kentucky.
One of those tornadoes touched down in the town of Clarksville, which lies about an hour’s drive northwest of Nashville on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. The NWS said the EF-3 tornado with maximum winds of 150 mph was on the ground for more than 40 miles.
Dashcam video shows moment a vehicle crosses paths with a tornado in Clarksville, Tennessee. Dec. 9, 2023.
(SWNS / FOX Weather)
Many Clarksville homes and businesses were destroyed, and the NWS noted that more than 60 people were injured. Four people, including one 10-year-old boy, died during the tornado in Clarksville, according to Montgomery County officials.
TORNADOES UNLEASH DEADLY TERROR IN TENNESSEE WITH CHILDREN AMONG THOSE KILLED IN SEVERE STORMS
Just outside Nashville in the town of Madison, an EF-2 tornado tore through mobile homes and killed three people, including a 2-year-old boy.
Tropical Storm Ophelia
Tropical Storm Ophelia swirls off the coast of North Carolina on Sept. 22, 2023.
(NOAA / NOAA)
Kicking off the fall season's wild weather was Tropical Storm Ophelia, which made landfall in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, on Sept. 23. The storm's winds were only 4 mph shy of being classified as a hurricane.
Ophelia pounded the coast of the Tarheel State, with powerful winds causing storm surge and torrential rain that caused waterways to rise.
After hitting North Carolina, its remnants made their way up the Northeast coastline, where it caused flash flooding in some areas.
Trash floats in floodwater in Brooklyn. Sept. 29, 2023.
(@shaonedon / X / FOX Weather)
One place hit by the flooding was New York City, where several inches of rain fell in a few hours. Each of the city’s five boroughs was inundated, causing roads to turn into rivers and pedestrians to wade through rapidly rising floodwater.
PARTS OF NEW YORK SEE WETTEST DAY ON RECORD AS LIFE-THREATENING FLOODING SUBMERGES SUBWAYS, STREETS
JFK Airport saw more than 8 inches of rainfall on Sept. 29, making it the wettest day on record at the airport, according to the NWS.
Deadly flooding
A home is flooded from the swollen Stillaguamish River in Granite Falls, Washington on Dec. 5, 2023.
(Benjamin Jurkovich / Washington Weather Chasers / FOX Weather)
On the other side of the country, flooding also ran rampant as a weather phenomenon known as an atmospheric river produced storms that drenched the Pacific Northwest in early December.
Exacerbating the situation was the snowmelt, which drained into the waterways.
The storms caused rivers and streams in Washington and Oregon to rise, flooding roads, neighborhoods and parks and causing at least two deaths. Images of floodwater show how wet and dangerous conditions were for residents.
A tree floats along a flooded park in Arlington, Washington. Dec. 5, 2023.
(@JBrushertphoto1 / X / FOX Weather)
In higher elevations in the Cascades, the heavy precipitation fell as snow, with more than a foot measured at Mt. Rainier’s Paradise Ranger Station.
PHOTOS: ATMOSPHERIC RIVER FLOODS SEVERAL TOWNS IN WASHINGTON AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF HEAVY RAIN
Though not from an atmospheric river, deadly flooding also occurred in Kenya. El Niño-fueled storms drenched villages in late November and led to more than 250 deaths.
The last few days of fall featured dramatic images and video of flooding in the Northeast after a deadly storm walloped the region, leaving thousands without power.
Earthquakes and volcanoes around the world
People mourn near the bodies of their relatives as the search operation for the bodies and those who remained under the rubble continues at Blackwater village in Zendeh Jan district in Herat, Afghanistan on October 9, 2023.
(Mirwais Amir / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
The planet literally shook in several parts of the world this fall.
In early October, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake and several powerful aftershocks rocked Afghanistan, affecting more than 11,000 people and killing more than 1,000.
Nepal was also hit by a powerful earthquake and aftershock in early November. Measuring at 5.6 magnitude, the earthquake was felt as far away as New Delhi, India, and claimed the lives of at least 150 people in Nepal.
People walk through ruins of houses in the aftermath of an earthquake at Jajarkot district on November 4, 2023.
(PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP / Getty Images)
Early December saw the southeastern coast of the Philippines struck by a 7.6 magnitude quake and aftershocks. Local officials said nearly 48,000 people were affected, and at least 3 people died. The earthquake also triggered a local tsunami threat.
Another geological event occurred in the colder latitudes of Iceland.
A helicopter is seen flying near a volcanic eruption in Iceland on Monday, Dec. 19, 2023.
(Icelandic Coast Guard / FOX Weather)
After tens of thousands of earthquakes shook the area around Grindavík for weeks, a nearby volcano that officials had warned could erupt finally did.