At least 481 people have died in tornadoes so far this year, the earliest such a high toll has ever been reached...

“We are now on pace for a record year for tornado fatalities,” Schneider said on conference call with reporters today. “I think we have to be aware that we are just now entering the peak of the season.”

This year’s stormy season may be caused by a waning La Nina, a cooling in the Pacific Ocean, that is focusing the track for severe storms at just the right distance from warm moist air coming north from the Gulf of Mexico.

“Some part of it is global warming-climate change and some part is natural variability.”