Texas and Oklahoma at it again...Tornado statistics

[Chris Lott]

I just came across this on the web and thought it was pretty interesting, and who do I find at the top of most of the categories? Texas and Oklahoma. I just wish this site went into more detail about some of these events. There is a portion of this site that lists the most devastating tornadoes and outbreaks of all time.My Grandfather was in the F-5 that hit Wichita Falls,Tx in 1964 and lived to tell about it.

Helps if I put the link on here, Huh!

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab...0/torstats.html

 

[Shane Adams]

The lists that OK/TX dominate are long range climo charts, spanning decades. For a more accurate climo of the past decade, you'll probably find Kansas at the top. You can take a state's annual tornado numbers, then take any 5-10 year stretch inside those complete historical annual totals and get "average" numbers that are nowhere near each other. For example, OK's "accepted" annual average is around 53 tornadoes. But in the years since I started chasing, it's 64. You can do this with any state, any time period. It's a great example of how "averages" are really made.

 

[Chris Lott]

Correct me if I'm wrong on this Shane, but wasn't 2005 the first year that Oklahoma hasn't recorded a tornado in the month of May? And another statistic I'm looking for is what U.S. cities have been hit the most by tornadoes. I always figured Oklahoma held most of the tornado records, it seems like they always get hit, except for last year. But you're right, recent history would probably rank Kansas at the top of the list.

 

[mikegeukes]

For the first time since official records began in 1950, no tornadoes were reported in the state of Oklahoma in the month of May for 2005. Source: NWS Norman

Mike

 

[mikegeukes]

I found this on the internet

ENGINEERING ANALYSIS INC.
TOP TWENTY TORNADO-PRONE CITIES
http://eai.home.mindspring.com/EAIprs06.html

Top Twenty Tornado-Prone States
http://eai.home.mindspring.com/EAIprs01.html
http://eai.home.mindspring.com/EAIcntus.gif

Source: Engineering Analysis Inc Huntsville AL

Mike

 

[Chris Lott]

West Texas and the springtime chase heaven of Lubbock ranks 20th? I can't believe that. But this is based on coverage right? Or disturbed land area? I know Lubbock HAS to get more tornadoes than Pasadena, Tx. So basically all the wild tornadoes out in West Texas don't disturb very much or they're just short lived.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

Guess it's time to start Lo-Viz Chase Tours here. . .

Dave Gallaher
Huntsville, AL

 

[Shane Adams]

Originally posted by Chris Lott
And another statistic I'm looking for is what U.S. cities have been hit the most by tornadoes.

Oklahoma City is number one. I don't know the rest.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Originally posted by Chris Lott
Correct me if I'm wrong on this Shane, but wasn't 2005 the first year that Oklahoma hasn't recorded a tornado in the month of May? And another statistic I'm looking for is what U.S. cities have been hit the most by tornadoes. I always figured Oklahoma held most of the tornado records, it seems like they always get hit, except for last year. But you're right, recent history would probably rank Kansas at the top of the list.

Shane is correct. Oklahoma City has been hit 116 times since 1890!! I thought this was such cool info I started a whole new thread on it. Check it here:

http://stormtrack.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9992

Here's an interesting page by Tornado Tim that has some good facts on frequency of other cities, states, definition of the alley, etc.

http://www.tornadochaser.net/tornalley.html