(NECN: Julie Loncich) - The latest string of severe, deadly storms is bringing attention to a series of wild weather across the nation and the world.
The images are astonishing. Cities and towns, homes and businesses, devastated by this latest round of tornadic activity in the South. Hundreds of lives have been lost and countless others forever changed.
In the Midwest, it's flooding.
It wasn't too long ago that New Englanders experienced wild weather, with piles of snow several feet high, and streets paved with salt and ice.
"Mother nature can be tranquil at times and at other times, it's not at all," said National Weather Service meteorologist, Bob Thompson.
Meteorologists say this spring in particular has been especially active. Experts say although this is tornado season in the South, the sheer number and magnitude of these storms is rare.
"We've seen repetitive storms taking the same path across the nation's heartland and that's what's allowed for a number of storms to develop in the same places again and again," said NECN meteorologist, Matt Noyes.
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Meteorologists say the recent natural disasters are independent from the weather, and speak to the cyclical nature of the atmosphere and the Earth itself.
"So essentially, we're looking at an active cycle for weather that is working in a decadal process, working on the process of about 15 to 30 years to cycle through," said Noyes.
