Earth Changes
It's very cold, obviously; at high altitude it is well below freezing.
But would you be surprised to learn it is sometimes below even -100C?
Indeed, scientists have just published research showing the top of one tropical storm cloud system in 2018 reached -111C. This is very likely a record low temperature.
Prior to Friday's tornado, the most recent EF4 tornado occurred in the 2011 Super Outbreak, which brought hundreds of tornadoes to the Deep South.
Less than 0.5% of tornadoes in Georgia reach "violent" strength, those of EF4 or EF5 magnitude. EF4 tornadoes hit Georgia roughly once in a decade. Most violent tornadoes have occurred early in the year and in the northern portion of the state.
In all, the state has seen more than 2,000 tornadoes since 1950.
Friday's tornado struck the west-central Georgia community of Newnan, a town of more than 40,000.

Falling ash from the Pacaya volcano forced the closure of Guatemala's only international airport for almost 24 hours
The 2,500-meter (8,200-foot) volcano that lies 25 kilometers to the south of Guatemala City has been erupting for 50 days, damaging plantations in the path of the lava.
Pacaya is expelling ash up to 500 meters from its crater, located 2.5 kilometers southwest of the cone, the vulcanology institute said in a statement.
Falling ash was registered in the El Rodeo and El Patrocinio communities, the institute said, adding that "the volcanic activity is considered at high levels."
The activity has produced a lava flow 2.2 kilometers long on the west flank of the volcano.
An avalanche of rocks spilled down Mount Merapi's slopes before dawn and clouds of hot ash shot 200 meters (656 feet) into the air as the mountain groaned and rumbled, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.
The volcano unleashed hot clouds of ash at least eight times since the morning as well as a series of pyroclastic flows — a mixture of rock, debris, lava and gasses — that had reached nearly 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) down its slopes, Humaida said.
The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) high volcano is on densely populated Java island near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has repeatedly erupted recently.
The incident happened on March 26, 2021, at around 18:40 hours at Chiteyeye location, Traditional Authority Kaomba in the district.
The assistant public relations officer for Kasungu police station sergeant Miracle Mikozi said that on the material day, Bosco and his family were inside the house while rain was falling outside.
"Unfortunately, the lightning hit them right inside their home as the main door of the house was left wide open while the couple was resting at the sitting room.
"They were taken by well-wishers to Kasungu District Hospital whereby death was confirmed upon arrival," said Mikozi.
Bosco hailed from Gala village, Traditional Authority Mwase while Anes Banda hailed from Chiteyeye village, Traditional Authority Kaomba in Kasungu District.
The cattle are part of a community project, which was established in 2016 by ten villagers who are into farming who are being assisted by Wild is Life Trust, an organisation that is into wild animal conservation.
The project had 72 cattle before tragedy struck.
The farmers take intervals to keep the cattle and they are meant to assist with manure for their communal farms.
The incident, according to Joseph Ncube who lost four of his cattle is suspected to have happened around 2 AM.
Border towns of Keran, Karnah, Machil and Tanghdar remained cut off with their district headquarter Kupwara, a Police Control Room (PCR) official told UNI over phone today.
Meanwhile, traffic to the border town of Gurez remained suspended since January 1 due to the accumulation of snow at Razdan pass and adjoining areas.
He said traffic continued to remain suspended to dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including those near the LoC, due to slippery road conditions following intermittent moderate to heavy snowfall on Monday and Tuesday.
However, yesterday weather was dry and sky clear, he said adding there was no snowfall during the night.
Recently, the volcano has been more active than average, with 16 eruptions over the past five weeks.
The latest explosion, which occurred overnight between 23 and 24 March, lasted twice as long as usual and happened on the back of a brief four-day hiatus.
Tornados also swept into neighbouring Georgia overnight into early Friday, causing widespread damage southwest of Atlanta. No fatalities have been reported yet in that state.
The five confirmed fatalities were in Ohatchee, Ala., a town of about 1,200 people in the northwestern corner of the state where a twister ripped apart homes and downed trees and power lines, according to the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency.
Calhoun County coroner Pat Brown confirmed to the Gadsden Times newspaper that three of those killed were family members in a house that was hit. In addition, an adult male died in his mobile home, and a female adult died in another mobile home.
Comment: That we are experiencing a significant shift in conditions on our planet can be seen in the numerous, varied and unusual phenomena in our skies: