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From typhoons and tornadoes, 2013 has been extreme weather year

Posted at 7:38 PM, Dec 31, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-31 19:38:19-05

From wildfires to typhoons and tornadoes, this has been a year of extreme weather and natural disasters.

Here is a look at the year's worst.

In 2013 weather was anything but delicate. In May, a monster tornado tore through Oklahoma. The E F-5 storm brought winds upwards of 200 miles per hour, and carved a path in the Oklahoma City suburbs that was 1.3 miles wide and 17 miles long.

Twenty-four people were killed, among them: 9 children.

Summer elements brought heat and heartbreak to Arizona.

In June, lightning sparked these massive wildfires in the town of Yarnell, outside of Phoenix. The fierce fires raged on for nearly two weeks.

Nineteen firefighters were killed battling the blaze

Firefighting was not what they did, it was who they were//men of undaunted courage, uncommon resolve, uncommon and stubborn perseverance in the face of unfathomable challenges.

In August, a second dose of western wildfires.

This California rim fire was one of the largest in the state's history caused by man, fueled by dry conditions

It threatened a national treasure, Yosemite National Park--and burned through more than 235,000 acres.

In September torrential rains in Colorado fell for days, dumping 17 inches in some parts of the state. Roads, bridges, and homes wiped out from flash floods

The floods destroyed more than 1,500 hundred homes and killed eight people.

And in November, an epic storm, Typhoon Haiyan, hit the Philippines. Winds came at 3.5 times the strength of Hurricane Katrina. Towns like Tacloban almost washed away by 15-foot high storm surge.

The death toll was horrifying, more than 5,000 people killed.

But one thing 2013 failed to bring: major hurricanes.

Despite the forecast, it was the least active hurricane season in the Atlantic in more than 30 years.

Only two hurricanes formed -- Humberto and Ingrid -- but both fizzled out as category one storms.

A little welcome relief after Mother Nature’s extreme year.