TWC names Huntsville, AL most tornado-prone city?

[Shane Adams]

TWC's usual incompetence and uselessness - not to mention copyright violations - aside, that list is absolute sh*t. After 4-27-11 everyone lost their damn minds and the whole "Dixie Alley" crap started. Plus TWC being based in Atlanta, that's a perfect opportunity for them to sell the SE as the new tornado capital. I love the line "The myth that Tornado Alley is in the Plains and Midwest." Yeah, 50 years of records is a myth. But it's TWC, and trying to make sense of what they speil forth is like trying to explain reality to a religious person....not worth the time or effort.

Based on the obvious SE bias, I'm amazed OKC (the TRUE most tornado-prone city in the world, let alone the country) even made the list. Surely they could've dropped OKC, Tulsa, and Wichita to add St. Louis, Kansas City, and some other TN town. It's like nobody understood the SE has probably always had the highest concentration of tornadoes, it's just that now with all the technology and fish-finder gizmos, everyone's chasing them. But because now it's MARKETABLE, suddenly it's "new". No dumb sh*ts, it's always been there. You just didn't know how to sell it.

Tell you what TWC. Send Bettes out in 2014 and don't allow him to cross west of the MS. Tell me how much great video you get (during the day) and how your ratings compare to the Plains stuff from previous years. Because why on earth would TWC spend all that money chasing a myth?

 

[David E. Young]

They also have a photo of what looks like a gust front and they call it a wall cloud. I am fairly certain it is not a wall cloud.

 

[Wes Carter]

Courtesy of The Tornado History Project.

 

[Wes Carter]

I just now realized that the photos are too small to read. I guess the forum software shrinks them a bit.

Although Huntsville has had it's fair share of tornadoes including violent ones, historically it's not even the most tornado prone city in the state. But there are other factors to consider such as the physical size of the city which would take a lot of work to quantify and qualify for an equitable comparison. But I compared the numbers of tornadoes since 1950 in the counties each city occupies. Oklahoma City was clearly ahead of all the cities I compared (or more accurately Oklahoma county). Dallas Texas was a bit more difficult because it covers several counties and if all of them are included it dwarfs Oklahoma City in the number of tornadoes but also covers so much area that it isn't even close to being a fair comparison.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

I trust that recent events have made this TWC appointment of Huntsville ahead of Oklahoma City in tornadoes ludicrous.

 

[Keith Wilson]

No Dave, it was already ludicrous to most. This should help prove the point though.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

http://tweetimgs.pmarshwx.com/pmarshwx/20130523/20130523014604.png

 

[Kathryn Crowe]

From what I understand, the methods that place Huntsville at the top of the list are usually the tornadoes per square mile type measurements. Huntsville is very very small compared to places like Birmingham or Oklahoma City, so the tornado density is higher even if the numerical total is not.

 

[Joey Krastel]

Same with putting Maryland at the top for tornadoes per square mile due to its small overall size.