Tornado season deadliest in a decade

By Paul McIntosh, AP- This funnel cloud formed in Keo, Ark. last month. Arkansas has had 49 tornadoes this year, already above its annual average of 48, according to Greg Forbes, severe weather expert at The Weather Channel.

The USA has been ravaged through mid-May by a near-record number of tornadoes that has pushed the death toll — including 47 killer twisters over the weekend — to a 10-year high. The deaths of 98 people attributed to tornadoes this year has made 2008 the deadliest year thus far for tornadoes since 1998 and the seventh deadliest since modern recordkeeping began in 1950, The Weather Channel said. Such a rate could make 2008 the year with the most tornadoes since 1950.