This year's tornado season is the deadliest since 1953, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal this morning. It's a grim statistic, but not one that will come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the coverage of destructive weather patterns moving through the South and Midwest. And the Journal says it's not over: "Forecasters expect severe thunderstorms, which can spawn tornadoes, to persist for the next several days, heightening the potential for more twisters before the storm system is blown out to sea and dissipates."

The Journal report goes on:

Strong tornadoes are "likely" Tuesday over Oklahoma, Kansas, and other areas, with the storm system moving eastward Wednesday to Southeast Missouri, Central Illinois, and surrounding states, the National Weather Service said.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that next Wednesday, June 1, marks the official start of hurricane season. And as Carla Fried at CBS points out, the National Weather Service isn't the only group predicting more violent storms ahead. Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that 2011 would have "an above-normal hurricane season," with three to six major hurricanes--defined as "Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher." And a forecast from Colorado State University [PDF] says there's a 72 percent chance that at least Category 3, 4, or 5 hurricane will hit somewhere on the U.S. coastline this year.

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