The vast majority of tornadoes occur in the US, in Tornado Alley

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:44 PM
Original message

The vast majority of tornadoes occur in the US, in Tornado Alley

Edited on Wed May-25-11 07:44 PM by Liberal_in_LA

Just looked up this fact. It struck me that I don't hear of tornadoes occuring around the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

The Velveteen Ocelot

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:44 PM
Response to Original message

1. That's why they call it Tornado Alley...

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:46 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. well yeah... but still didn't realize it's ONLY an American thing. Call me stupid.

:freak:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Myrina

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:46 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. LMAO +100

n/t

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. :-(

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

pintobean

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:50 PM
Response to Reply #4

17. I laughed, too, but it was a good thing

The 'call me stupid' crack did it. Many on this board would, and could never admit not knowing something. Your honesty is respected by this DUer.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Drale

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:53 PM
Response to Original message

5. Its because we have just a large area of plains

Most other continents are either to cold, to hot or have a ton of mountains to allow the formation of many tornado's.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:54 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. our bad luck

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

pipi_k

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:19 PM
Response to Reply #5

15. It's also from the interaction

of hot and cold air masses with relation to the Jet Stream.

To put it real simply.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

MineralMan

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:58 PM
Response to Original message

7. They do occur in other places, too, but

you're right. Most occur in this country. The conditions are exactly right in "Tornado Alley" for the storms that create them, unlike anywhere else on this planet.

The Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean feed moisture into the area, and Canada sends cold air into the same area. Tornado Alley is a warm place. When moisture, heat, and cold mix, it can be an explosive combination, as we see each year in the midwest. Scary stuff.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Sylvarose

(38 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:58 PM
Response to Original message

8. yep..lived here all my life

..when I was in grade school a funnel cloud went over my house and landed a few miles up the road in the small town where my elementary school was...wiped it out..was an old three story brick building.

riding out another night...had two cells go to the north and south (the one to the south had injuries waiting to hear more) of me tonight..and round two of tornado producing storms is about an hour away.

..got my iphone charged with alert apps loaded..and pillows and heavy blanket stowed in the closet..watching the radar on the net and listening for sirens..ready to take cover if need to...

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. glad you are prepared. Stay safe.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Sylvarose

(38 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:04 PM
Response to Reply #9

11. another warning

..yep..storm popped up faster than expected! new warning ..just 24 west of me..moving NE...looks like it's gonna go just north of me again..(fingers crossed)

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

fishwax

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:02 PM
Response to Original message

10. I wasn't aware of how tilted it was to North America, either

A quick glance at wikipedia shows 15 outbreaks with 35+ tornadoes and 9 fatalities so far this century. Asia has had a similar number of outbreaks, though they've had more fatalities.

Meanwhile here in the U.S. we've had four outbreaks this year alone with 450+ tornadoes and more than 500 fatalities :wow:

List of European outbreaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_tornadoes_and_tornado_outbreaks
List of North American outbreaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_tornadoes_and_tornado_outbreaks#2010.E2.80.932011
List of Asian outbreaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_tornadoes_and_tornado_outbreaks

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

psdoffkentuckian

(1 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:10 PM
Response to Original message

12. Deadliest in Banglidesh...

...who knew?

"The deadliest tornado in world history was the Daultipur-Salturia Tornado in Bangladesh on April 26, 1989, which killed approximately 1300 people. Bangladesh has had at least 19 tornadoes in its history kill more than 100 people, almost half of the total in the rest of the world."
From Wikipedia

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Sylvarose

(38 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:12 PM
Response to Original message

13. those NE of columbus, IN

Take cover! Large tornado on the ground!!!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Synicus Maximus

(828 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:16 PM
Response to Original message

14. And you almost never hear of monsoones in the Americas

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Generic Brad

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:32 PM
Response to Original message

16. Some African men brought that up with me yesterday

One was from Liberia, another from Kenya, and another from Zimbabwe. All three told me they had never heard of a tornado touching down on the African continent. Until they mentioned it, I just assumed Africa had them too.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Odin2005

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 09:16 PM
Response to Reply #16

19. Supercells are very rare in fully tropical weather systems, IIRC.

Supercells require the interaction of warm and very humid air on one hand and cool and very dry air on the other hand. This is why, in the South, Tornado Season is in the spring. By summer the South becomes dominated by tropical air from the Gulf

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Liberal_in_LA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu May-26-11 02:07 PM
Response to Reply #16

20. Glad I'm not the only one!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

AC_Mem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-25-11 08:58 PM
Response to Original message

18. I was watching local weather

While we sat ready to run to the bathroom (we are in Memphis) and the US radar map was on the air. Honest to goodness, when they ran the loop it looked like a hurricane in the middle of America coming down from Canada. Just like a land hurricane.

Very strange looking!

Annette (who drove through a tornado last year, don't look forward to sitting through these storms again)

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Sun May 12th 2024, 05:11 PM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.