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5 things to know about this week's deadly weather

Despite a quiet start to the severe weather season, the most deadly and fierce severe storm outbreak of 2014 left a path of destruction across the U.S. this week.

Lasting for a full five days, the storm system unleashed heavy rain, deadly tornadoes, powerful winds and flash flooding.

Millions sought safe shelter between Sunday and Thursday in more than 20 states, including Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Here's a look at five interesting numbers about this storm.

1. 160 tornadoes

AccuWeather says 160 tornadoes hit 14 states, leveling buildings, displacing thousands and killing 37 people.

The most powerful tornadoes were in Arkansas and Mississippi. On Sunday, April 27, 2014, a preliminarily rated EF3 tornado with a 30-mile path charged through the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, flattening numerous homes and buildings. The very next day, an even stronger tornado struck Jackson, Mississippi, at a force ranking it preliminarily an EF4.

2. 200 cases of hail

Approximately 205 hail reports, ranging in size from quarter-sized to baseball-sized, were recorded during the multiday outbreak. Hail was reported in 13 states with the biggest hail report coming out of Alabama at 2.75 inches in diameter, or baseball-sized.

3. Wind speeds hit up to 80 mph

With approximately 370 reports of high winds, storms brought high-gusting, damaging winds to more than 14 states, blowing down countless trees in the process. As a result of downed trees, thousands were left in the dark for hours as trees fell on power lines in multiple towns in the path of the storms. Outside wind gusts generated by tornadoes, the highest wind gust blew at up to 80 mph in Clinton County, Ohio.

4. Three cities set new rain records

Amid torrential downpours, three cities set new rainfall records this week. On Wednesday, April 30, 2014, Watertown, New York, broke its 1962 maximum daily rainfall record of 1.17 inches, previously broken also in 2011, with 5.93 inches of rain recorded for the day. Farther south, Lynchburg, Virginia, also broke its daily maximum rainfall record of 0.91 of an inch set in 2003 by a shy 0.02 of an inch, setting the record at 0.93 of an inch for April 30.

Over a two-day span, Pensacola, Florida, received more than 20 inches of rain on April 29 and 30, 2014, causing life-threatening flooding throughout the area. The city proceeded to shatter its daily maximum rainfall record set in 1918 at 3.33 inches by collecting 4.92 inches on April 30.

5. One landslide, two mudslides

Following hours of heavy rain, cars, roadways and street signs were swallowed as a landslide opened up alongside a residential neighborhood in Baltimore late Wednesday night, April 30, 2014. Only a few hours later, early Thursday morning, May 1, 2014, a mudslide near Yonkers, New York, halted morning commute traffic along the Hudson Line service in the state. Around the same time, residents in Long Island were evacuated from their Sea Cliff homes as a mudslide in Port Washington left two vehicles buried in mud.

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Menacing dark clouds brought rain, wind and lightning above downtown Durham North Carolina as cold and warm fronts clashed, making a dangerous weather situation. Associated Press
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