English: A diagram of the location of tornado alley and the related weather systems (public domain, NOAA). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tornado season is right around the corner here in the United States. May and June are typically the most active months of the year for tornado genesis across the Great Plains. Tornado Alley, as the nickname goes, sees a very large number of super cell thunderstorms which are perfect producers of violent EF2 or greater tornadoes. The boundaries of Tornado Alley reach from south/central Texas up to northern Iowa and east/west from Missouri to Colorado. Other areas prone to tornadoes in the U.S. include Florida and the Gulf Coast which is named the Dixie Alley and has a relatively high number of tornadoes occurring in the late fall, October through December. As many as 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. every year and recent years have shown that as our planet’s climate continues to fluctuate we are seeing even stronger storms and resulting tornadoes. But tornadoes are not limited to just the United States. In fact, tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and even Australia. These regions are more likely to experience increased tornado potential in parallel to the time of year in which increased solar energy and strong frontal storm systems are the norm for that area. Thus, tornadoes can occur (and do so) pretty much year round on planet earth. [Read more...]
