1984 was 40 years ago, I know hard to believe it for those of us born in the 80's. The 1980's saw major technical advances in the field of Meteorology. Doppler Radars, which came out in the late 1970's got a huge upgrade. These radars could detect rotation in severe thunderstorms. Also computer models started to become advanced. Weather Satellites which came out in 1960 were starting to get really advanced and technical.

1984's weather patterns were influenced by a La Nina. La Nina occurs in the ENSO region of the Equatorial Waters of the Pacific Ocean. La Nina is when water temperatures in the ENSO region are -0.5°C below normal for at least 5 months. The 1984 La Nina developed in December 1983 and lasted until January 1986. Basically, this was a two year La Nina event.

I looked back on some of the historic weather events from 1984 and have made a list in this thread.

Early January 1984 Idaho Falls- Warm Chinook winds warmed temperatures up to over 50 degrees in Central and Eastern Idaho in the Rocky Mountains. The warm temperatures caused ice to break in the Snake and Salmon Rivers causing Ice Jams. This lead to historic flooding. Millions of dollars was done in damage.

February 4th/5th 1984 Blizzard- A Blizzard impacted the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, North Illinois and Wisconsin. This storm was known as the wall of white due to whiteouts from blowing snow. Winds guest up to 60 mph.

March 28th 1984- A tornado outbreak occurred in South and North Carolina. A total of 24 tornadoes occurred in the states. A lot of the tornadoes were EF2 or higher. This was a deadly outbreak as a lot of the tornadoes hit cities. 57 people died and $600 million in damages was done.

April 21 1984- Several EF2 or higher tornadoes ravage Mississippi killing 16.

April 25th 1984- A late spring blizzard impacts the states of Montana and Wyoming. Some locations got several feet of snow and wind guest up to 60 mph. Farmers lost 50% of their livestock in some counties.

May 7th/8th 1984- A tornado outbreak impacts parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic States. Tornadoes touched down in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware a total of 38 tornadoes occurred.

May 26/27th Floods- Several rounds of heavy thunderstorms caused widespread flooding in Oklahoma. One of the cities that was hit the hardest was Tulsa. In Tulsa 10-16 inches of rainfall occurred. Overall 14 people died and millions was done in damage.

June 7th/8th 1984 A tornado outbreak occurred in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. 46 tornadoes occurred but 30 of those were EF2 or higher. The worst one was an EF5 that occurred in Wisconsin. Overall 13 people died and millions were done in damages.

Middle September 1984- Hurricane Diana which had previously been a 135 mph category 4 hurricane made landfall in North Carolina's outerbanks as a high end category 1 hurricane. Diana caused a high storm surge. Thankfully, Diana hit a rural area so damage was not as bad. Still Diana caused 3 deaths and $66 million in damages.

September 18th 1984- Tropical Storm Fran makes landfall in the Cape Verde Islands causing 28 deaths. This was unusual as most tropical storms/hurricanes form west of the Cape Verde Islands. Fran formed eastward.

Late September/October 1st 1984- Tropical Storm Isidore makes landfall in Florida causing flooding and severe weather. $1 million of dollars is done in damage.

Middle November 1984 Hurricane Klaus makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a strong tropical storm. Klaus would strengthen into a 90 mph hurricane once it moved away from Puerto Rico. Klaus caused historic flooding which resulted in 2 deaths and over $150 million dollars done in damage.

December 12th- Hurricane Lili forms outside of the Hurricane Season which ended on November 30th. Lili would not impact any land.

December 31st 1984- A 12 month severe Famine in Africa results in 1 million people dying of starvation in 1984. 1984 saw Africa being impacted by a historic drought. A few weeks ago before Christmas a lot of British artists recorded do they know its Christmas calling themselves Band Aid to raise awareness and money for the countries impacted.

1984 was a deadly year in tornadoes and severe famine. The 1984 hurricane season was slightly above average with 13 named storms, near average in hurricanes and major hurricanes. The same weather patterns that impacted 1984 would continue into all of 1985.

So, 1984 got an La Nina? So, what exactly is it? Ooh, a few blizzards, that sounds nice, I want one, but I haven't even got much snow so...

Tornado outbreak, wow, those are always happening, like, how many per year? 50? Just Kidding, but there are a lot.

La Nina is a naturally occurring weather pattern. It occurs when there is cooler than average water temperatures in the ENSO region. The ENSO region is basically the Equatorial Waters of the Pacific Ocean. La Nina is the opposite of El Nino.

Over the past 40 years the US averages about 1,100-1,200 tornadoes per year. Making the US having the most tornadoes than any other country.