Non-Sports: Tornado Alley

This image is from Reed Timmer’s Facebook page. Timmer is a meteorologist who stars in the reality show, Storm Chasers. When one thinks of the frequency of deadly tornadic activity, the conventional wisdom is that most of the deadliest storms are found in the midwest and plains area of the U.S. While that area is active, the deadliest storms actually occur in an area much farther east and south.

The April 2011 breakout of tornadoes in Alabama that killed hundreds and devastated towns across the north central regions of Alabama were historically bad, but they also occurred in a historically active area of the country.

The hotspot is an area spanning from southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas through the delta area of western Tennessee, and into the northern parts of Mississippi and Alabama. But there’s real danger in the entire state of Oklahoma, and it ranges all the way north to the Great Lakes south to Louisiana and all the way east into the Georgia mountains.

nota bene: This is a measure of “killer” tornadoes, not necessarily intensity. You have to wonder if this is a phenomenon caused by having more people living in a dangerous area or if this is an area that just gets hit harder.

Helmet tap to Rufus at CCC.