A convective storm front on Wednesday caused six tornadotouchdowns in Alabama and Arkansas and hail and wind damage inseveral other states, reports EQECAT, but 2012 has seen fewer of these storm systems thanlast year, forecasters say.

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Multiple injuries were reported from north of central Louisianaand Mississippi to central Missouri and Illinois. According to theNational Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) StormPrediction Center (SPC), the most injuriesoccurred in Mississippi, a result of downed power lines and damagedmobile homes.

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Overall, says NOAA, convective storm activity in 2012 has beenmilder than last year by half. There have been a total of 859tornadoes since January. Comparatively, there were already 1,700tornadoes counted between January and October 2011. Although springstorm activity was comparable to last year, the summer this yearwas relatively quiet.

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Convective storms are generated by warm ground and moist air,producing strong winds, heavy rain, hail and tornadoes.

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NOAA says that while global warming is expected to promoteconvective storm development, scientists cannot yet directly link2011’s high storm activity or 2012’s low activity to a warmingclimate.

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