This may be conjecture, but it seems to me that when one aspect of atmospheric instability decreases, another increases to compensate. The reduction of tropical cyclone activity during the 2010 Western Pacific typhoon season (near record low) and the record low number of Southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones during the 2010/11 summer season was quite striking, and potentially US tornado activity and Atlantic hurricane activity have recently been more intense to enable the atmosphere to release built-up energy.
The death toll solely from the single Tuscaloosa/Birmingham bestial tornado may exceed 50. Evidently, the last single tornado to kill over 50 was the 1955 Udall, KS tornado. The Flint, MI tornado of 1953 killed 115. I wonder how many have died from this particular tornado alone?
In addition, seven preliminarily-EF4 tornadoes have now been confirmed throughout Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia from Wednesday's outbreak. It appears that this outbreak will be characterized by a high incidence of violent tornadoes, although in all likelihood (lest I speak to soon) will not threaten 4/3/74's record number for violents. With the latest updates, I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 or 3 (including the Tusca/Birmi beast) of these tornadoes rated EF5. Preliminary surveys have indicated that Wednesday's tornado in Tanner, AL (which was struck by an F5 on 4/3/74) caused upper level EF4 to near-EF5 damage
