Tornado alley is expanding — and scientists don’t know why

[Matt Zumbrunn]

Tornado alley is expanding — and scientists don’t know why (msn.com)
Popped up in my feed this morning. Enjoy...

 

[JamesCaruso]

What a ridiculous article. Basically says nothing. (I don’t mean to say that it wasn’t worth posting, it’s great to see what’s being said about severe weather in the mainstream outlets - but it’s always so ridiculous!)

 

[James K]

Might be an interesting read, I'll have to see if I can find it on some other site..
(since MSN is microsoft owned it is purposely blocked on my end .lol. )

 

[Matt Zumbrunn]

Similar article Tornado Alley is shifting East, putting states like Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama at higher risk of devastating twisters (msn.com)

 

[Warren Faidley]

There is also a lot more live coverage of Dixie Alley, which may be giving the impression that things are more active.

 

[rdale]

What a ridiculous article. Basically says nothing.

Actually much of the non-weather population doesn't realize that tornadoes are very prevalent even outside of the midwest. Seeing articles like this helps spread the word and gets people more weather-aware.

 

[Jeff Duda]

While this article is full of mis-translated attempts to avoid quoting the direct sources and/or plagiarizing online sources about tornadoes a la most of the jargony dialogue in Twister, there was still some good information in it.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Sorry to bump an old thread but Meteorologist Noah Bergen had an interesting graphic up this morning and it definitely is indicative of Tornado Alley shifting eastward.

I didn't feel a new thread about the same subject was warranted.

 

[Matthew E Herbert]

Tornadoes have historically mostly occured East of the Rockies. Tornado Alley was a misnomer from the get go. It was dubbed that and the most studied because the plains had the most highly visible tornadoes and slow moving. I don't believe the SE was really known for it's tendencies until the 74 Super outbreak. Keep in mind the first documented tornado happened in MA in the late 1690s. Who knows how much tornado lore was forgotten before the Europeans first showed up there

 

[Matthew E Herbert]

Edit, first tornado documented in what is now the U.S. in the 1600s

 

[Jeff Duda]

Sorry to bump an old thread but Meteorologist Noah Bergen had an interesting graphic up this morning and it definitely is indicative of Tornado Alley shifting eastward.

I didn't feel a new thread about the same subject was warranted.

This map is not representative of the entire season when captured on 22 May and should not be used to infer such statements. In September it would start to resemble what the year actually looked like.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I'm sure everyone has seen these maps, but just for reference, here they are (copied from a past post in this thread). From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln High Plains Regional Climate Center these show all tornado reports (left) and violent tornado tracks (right) from 1950 to 2005:

Also of interest: Jon Davies' blog post listing the top ten worst tornado outbreaks in US history, ALL outside of the Great Plains (aside from a small part of the May 1927 event clipping the central Plains):

The 27 April 2011 tornado outbreak: A stunning death toll.

Recent research has shown a slight eastward shift in the centroid of US tornado activity, but I don't think it results in anything remarkable in the context of overall tornado history in the USA. It *could* shift back with a few crazy Plains dryline seasons.

 

[JamesCaruso]

What’s interesting to me about the maps Dan posted above is the relative “hole” in Missouri in the violent track map. There also seems to be a relative minimum in the same place on the all tornados map.

 

[Mike Smith]

What’s interesting to me about the maps Dan posted above is the relative “hole” in Missouri in the violent track map. There also seems to be a relative minimum in the same place on the all tornados map.

The central Missouri "tornado hole" is well known and was being discussed even when I was a meteorologist in STL (1979-81). No one really knows why, especially since the STL Metro is -- by far -- the #1 location in the US for tornado fatalities.