Just a thought.....

[Mike Peregrine]

Cool thread ... I would probably leave the Gulf where it is, as plenty of moisture advects plenty far to the north as it is (I mean, it goes all the way into the prairie provinces already for goodness sake) ... BUT, what I WOULD do if I could reshape the plains is actually extend a caprock-type formation all the way to the north through OK, KS, NE and the Dakotas to enhance orographic lifting as storm systems clear the rockies and hit the middle of the plains. The plateau would have to rise higher than the high plains but lower than the mountains, of course, but it would no doubt encourage all kinds of crazy lift everywhere ... we'd have some major updraft action if we could get it done ... I say we start hauling in the dirt now!

 

[Mike Peregrine]

P.S. - there are still some native american legends around NW Missouri concerning tornadoes ... the small town my family is from (Tarkio) is location of a tribe of native americans (the name of the town comes from their tribe) ... they had a legend that since the land sat between two rivers that it was shielded from passing tornadoes ... so I'm sure there were at least a few who did see them from time to time. Maybe even lost a wigwam or two ...

By the way - what I really DO like about Robert's re-imagining of the Gulf map ... St. Joseph Missouri is now beachfront property and property value just went way up around here. I would give anything for a beach closeby.