Why is This Tornado Outbreak Different?

While out of the area response is not usually necessary for tornado events, this NOAA report released today shows an unrecorded density of tornadic storms last week.

305 tornadoes suspected, 190 on the 27-28 timeframe that included most of the Alabama damage. The previous 24 hour record was April 3-4 1974 @ 148 that included the infamous Xenia tornado.

This NOAA map of storm rotation highlights the severity of the storms, widespread effect, and the most damaged areas highlighted in bright yellow and red for the greatest rotation.

Here is the article explaining the map.