Why the US has so many tornadoes
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2019
- Tornado Alley experiences more tornadoes than anywhere else in the world - why?
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The United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country, averaging over 1,200 per year. Most of those twisters are touching down in the central part of the country in an area called “Tornado Alley.” While the boundaries of this tornado hotbed are disputed, there’s no denying that something is going on here - and it all has to do with geography.
The map we use in this video for Tornado Alley boundaries is from NOAA - you can find that and more information on their website: www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-inf...
Information on tornado averages and trends can also be found at NOAA:
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-inf...
You may have noticed on our graphic around the one-minute mark that many of the Southeastern US states are prone to tornadoes as well. This is because they’re part of an area called “Dixie Alley.” The main difference between this area and Tornado Alley that tornadoes in Dixie Alley are more likely to touch down in the fall, while Tornado Alley experiences twisters in the early spring. This happens for the reasons outlined in the video above. This article offers a fairly compelling comparison of the two:
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/...
Finally, this video offered a simplified explanation of a really complex weather phenomenon. This National Geographic article does a really great job breaking it down again and also offers information on why it’s so hard to track and predict tornadoes:
news.nationalgeographic.com/2...
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Hey everyone! Our Production Manager Ashley and I had a little too much fun researching footage for this video and wanted to share some of our favorites with you. Head over to the Video Lab to check out our recommendations for some of the best tornado videos on the internet (and a little karate too).
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- Kim
A little to much fun if you know what I mean
@knowingnothing I highly doubt that this was intentional, but I agree that this should be avoided.
I ain't believe you shawtiez; I believe in hopalong cassidy.
I doubt it
tornadoes are racis!
I live in Tornado Alley, and at this point, tornado warnings during thunderstorms don't even faze me anymore
Ponderer Of Pointless Dreams, it's normal for you. Not for me.
@@lucaszhu1028, well for most of the people in the World.
Ponderer Of Pointless Dreams lucky me I was already in my empty bathtub with a conviniant mattress right next to,it
@Ponderer Of Pointless Dreams I thought it said, "I *love* tornado alley." 😂
Ponderer Of Pointless Dreams a couple small tornados went through Massachusetts a couple days ago and it was like defcon 28
West America: Earthquakes
Mid American: Tornadoes
East America: Hurricanes
Jesus Covarrubias South america brick wall..
Southern US, both Tornadoes and Hurricanes. Sometimes at the same time
Northeast america, blizzards
@bopp9 Not in yours, your kids, or your grand kids life time.
Northern America: Blizzards
0:21 Guess New Zealand is safe because you're not showing it on the map.
And the southern tip of aouth america. The east of Alaska the western tip of Siberia. Almost all of Oceania the north part of greenland all of Antarctica.
South*
You Kiwis are not safe from the terrible earthquakes though.
What do you mean? New Zealand doesn't exist.
@@nicomon.mp4 AHHH AN ANTI-KIWI
You know you're in for a tornado sighting when the air has that creepy feeling, the light is all wrong, it's eerily quiet, and several neighbors are outside with video cameras.
I live in Southern Missouri --- after 39 years of living here if the early evening sky looks a bit yellow-ish you just know it's gonna be a bad night.
Right? I know what you mean. I live in a four state area (Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas) so we get a tornado warning everytime it sprinkles basically lol and you can almost tell for sure whether or not you're going to see a tornado watch or warning by how humid it is.
That... and it’s oddly quiet.
I live in WI...but I know all about yellow (and sometimes pink) skies
can you tell me more? like what happen in the night.. i live in the ring of fire where eartquake often happens but never see a tornado(sorry for my bad english hhe)
Rizky Ardiyansah Well, most of us are used to severe storms here, but when the sky suddenly gets dark you know something big is coming. I gotta say I’m curious about what it’s like in the ring of fire though! Do people even get that surprised by earthquakes when they happen so often?
Philippines : *Hold my Typhoon*
Tropical cyclone
Hey! I'm Japanese. That insults me.
Queensland Australia: *Hold my Cyclone*
@@621Tomcat im sorry but what did i say to insult you?
No no. You say that to hurricanes.
It is important to point out that tornadoes often come at night in the Southern Alley, so there are more deaths there. The main tornado alley often has less rain wrapped tornadoes, so they are prettier to film.
True “Dixie alley” tends to have more damaging and deadlier tornadoes, but a lot fewer overall.
Trust me, the tornado alley definitely extends further East well into Illinois.
We get a LOT of tornadoes
Indiana too, tbh. Lived there my whole life, and I can't even count how many tornados we've had touch down here.
Not really ohio, we like never get tornadoes-
Last Tornado I recall in my area was April of last year-
@@ur_fav_friend6029 we do get the aftermath of their storms tho
Illinoisan here: I usually get around 2 tornadoes nearby a year
What did the tornado say to his girlfriend at the club?
"Lets go for a spin"
Can you spin to the door?
Maximus Lee hey, good one! 😁
What did the tornado say to his boyfriend at the spin class?
"Let's go for spin!"
Cyclone: reverse, reverse! (cha-cha slide reference)
Maximus Lee Haha, That was a good one bud!
I live in Norman. I remember when the May 20th tornado came to visit. It was the first time I saw that kind of damage up close. They're no joke. Still blows my mind how Oklahomans really just come out of their homes to make sure there's a tornado outside before taking shelter.
Thanks for this great video, Vox.
SDF RIVER We Nebraskans do that too. Lots of people even like to sit outside and watch the storm while the tornado is like half a mile away 😂
@@jadecherry7224 I live in Florida and we do the same with Hurricanes😂
There’s also Dixie Ally in the Southeast which is also a hotspot with actually more fatalities (trust me, I know).
I love where I live, in the Pacific NW. No tornadoes, no hurricanes, no super snow storms. Mild weather for the most part all year. Lots of rain, but that's what keeps us green :) Well, there was this one year when we had a volcano erupt but other than that... lol 😂
Just wait for that Cascadia Subduction Zone to go off XD
I live there too, and I like knowing that we don't have much in the way of natural disasters! Though, where I live, we have a series of dams above us, so there's the possibility of unnatural disaster.
Roger B he said PACIFIC, tell me a place where Idaho meets the Pacific
Just Jeff Bezos
a lot of people moving into Tornado Alley from your region. They're so clueless. They'll be on the highway in the left lane going 40mph and I see a supercell cloud and it's starting to spin. I want to book it out, but those Washington tags don't get the hint. They think it's like where they are from. Harmless clouds. naw. It's death from above mate!
I live in Tulsa Oklahoma. If there is a warning and sirens we go outside to watch it.
Well...I guess that's it folks time to start repairs! :)
You didn't mention the secondary tornado ally that stretches from Alabama (where i live) and Mississippi and all the way up north to Ohio and Indiana.
Yeah "tornado alley" is actually encroaching most of the southeast, and somehow that is always conveniently downplayed
@@xStormOfRosesx Conveniently for whom? Who benefits from downplaying it? I’m from Alabama so I know we are in a tornado alley even though we aren’t included on this map, but the way you phrased it makes the exclusion seem like some kind of dark conspiracy...
Yeah, it’s called Dixie Alley and it’s the 2nd most active US region for tornadoes, and it’s expected to become the most active region in the future
That’s Dixie Alley.
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 the “shift” people are always talking about is a two way street. Shifts in tornado and weather patterns have happened since the beginning of time. For a handful of years, the gulf states will be more active. Then it swings back to the plains states for another handful of years. These so called “experts” really need to go back and reeducate themselves on weather.
Fun Fact: Every state in the US has tornadoes.
Yes, even Alaska and Hawaii 🏔️🌴
Abel where u in Utah when the tornado hit Ogden
Abel just because you haven’t seen one doesn’t mean they don’t happen
@Abel In 1999, downtown Salt Lake City was hit by an F-1 tornado. Look it up.
It's not a proper tornado if it doesn't have cows...
its not a proper tornado if it doesn't have you being hit by the cows at 100 mph
"A tornado is on the ground, but since there's no cows in the area there's no need for a warning"
It's not a proper tornado if it doesn't hit a barn
I live in a town in Southern Illinois that got grazed by a tornado... one of the aftermath scenes was 4 dead horses laying in a field
Gotta love how Florida is an outlier here with 66 tornadoes in an average year. Between that and hurricanes/severe thunderstorms, the weather in Florida is always interesting. :)
Are most tornados in Florida come from hurricanes?
@@matthewwelsh294 We have tornado warnings and sightings all year long even when hurricanes are not present.
But Florida tornados are extremely weak and short tracking, I also wonder if they include waterspouts.
A waterspout that moves on land is then known as a tornado.
as someone who lives in Kansas i can say that people do like to watch tornados we had a small one come through town and people were sitting on their porch watching it
Omg. I live in California and I’ve never seen one so I’d probably panic
@@glowinqlu yet when an earthquake happens, us Californians usually shrug it off or sleep right through it….unless it’s a massive one. That San Andreas Fault makes me look over my shoulder from time to time.
If you know it isn’t coming for you it could definitely be nice. They can be real pretty sometimes.
No one gonna talk about how good they explained it? Those props made it really easy to understand.
They didn't. Quite a bit is inaccurate.
Born and raised in Oklahoma (Norman specifically) Tornadoes are nothing to us. We typically never leave the house unless it’s in our backyards! 😂
True
1:24 I'd say that's more like the kidney
Alek B I like it
Despite it not being at the exact center, that's actually one of the biggest hotspots in tornado alley despite it being closer to the edge.
We should be somewhat grateful that our weather phenomena is somewhat mild compared to the natural disasters that occur in other planets. Other planets have natural disasters that only our wildest imaginations can create.
Just wait a couple decades
For real. Jupiter has hurricanes the size of our planet 😳
True, but then again, most of those planets are inhospitable for life (especially complex life) in the first place.
If the weather phenomena was that much worse life wouldnt even existed here
I wake up every morning wishing Earth had dust storms like Mars.
In Denmark, we don't classify them as tornadoes, but as a _skypumpe_ which, I believe, equates to a waterspout. They are relatively rare even though I feel we're hearing more about them lately because of the warming weather.
Why did the tornado cross the road?
To get to the trailer park.
AlDelVex then you know nothing about tornadoes
I’m weak 😂
@AlDelVex you make no sense. Ofc it would go to a trailer park because they’re destroyed even in low rating tornadoes
I read the titles as "why the US has so many Tomatoes"
Me too. 🤣
Same
_does america have a lot of tomatoes tho_
same.
You should probably go back to school then.
Oh man, I LOVE Twister! The perfect example of a 90s movie. Anyone else have any nostalgic favourites from the 90s?
Armageddon!
Agree. Growing up outside the USA this is what Hollywood was for us. Twister, Jurassic park and oh- baby’s day out
@@asdabir Yup! Wait, was that last one about he talking babies?
Aspect Science lol no a baby who apparently survives a day out in the city alone and takes down criminals or something bizarre like that
@@asdabir That sounds even better haha!
Feel like as an alabamian there’s parts of the south that are just as active as tornado alley
Unfortunately Dixie Alley is less “popular” I suppose you’d say because you guys generally have rain wrapped tornadoes in high precipitation storms where as tornado alley seems to be low precipitation most of the time thus providing more “picturesque” tornadoes
Thank you Vox! I’m planning on majoring in meteorology. Pretty cool to see this here!
Daniel Diaz It's a really interesting subject. As someone who is a major I wish you good luck.
1:02. I like how Florida is that one outlier.
Florida man has done it again.
But they're mainly during hurricanes, but yeah, we've gotten a few tornado warnings on an average school day.
I've seen a water spout there. It's like an ocean tornado.
@@Udontkno7 After some quick googling, we have lots of tornados primarily because of our daily thunderstorms during the Summer. The secondary piece of that is that hurricanes and tropical storms can produce a large amount of tornadoes during the short time they're over land, but those tornados tend to be much weaker than the thunderstorm produced variety. The more you know!
Only time in my 25+ years as a FL resident that I've seen a tornado here up close was during tropical storm Erin back in the mid-90s. Ripped up one of our trees & destroyed our neighbor's two story patio, but that's about it. We get a lot of warnings during the summer due to the daily thunderstorms, but as previously mentioned they're usually F1s or F2s.
0:21 How is South Africa a hotspot on this map? We never get tornadoes here.
Edit: We have suddenly had 3 tornadoes within the last 3 weeks after an abnormally dry period.
Yeah when I lived in Joburg I've never heard of it happening
I have never heard of tornados forming anywhere in Africa tbh
Same with Argentina
Same with Australia / Tasmania
Same with Denmark...Pretty sure we’ve never had one
This is really interesting. I would argue however that the frequency of tornadoes in the states isn't the most significant or interesting factor in the equation, rather it's the high frequency of significant tornadoes which are so devastating. With that in mind it seems odd to omit Dixie Alley entirely, where the majority of tornado deaths occur even though there are fewer tornados.
*legend has it that kids in tornado alley have built in parachutes in their backpacks*
Shhhhhhh, they cant know our secret
How’d you find out? That’s private information only for those living in tornado alley.
The twist in all this is.......America actually loves tornadoes 🤣
The TWIST in all this. I see what you did there.
Not even gonna lie, tornado ally is the best
I miss them. I moved north and all I get are blizzards and floods
I've seen a tornado once during the 2011 Super Outbreak between April 26 - 28
I live in tornado alley and for some reason we haven’t had a tornado for a while and I really want one to heppen
1:28 "In the heart of tornado alley" unless a heart is in your leg, then I highly doubt that.
nah its just somebody hanging upside down facing the other way. like how you'd end up if a tornado got you
Geographically, no it's not the heart. But Oklahoma holds the record for strongest and widest tornados to ever touch down world wide. So I can see why they would say that.
Man you are atupid
Kafazy ShortHop actually texas does
@@del751 nope! May 3rd, 1999, Moore, OK and South OKC. The only tornado in recorded history that could have been an F6, and the highest measured wind speed ever recorded on earth (including Antarctica.) The wind speed measuring device broke at 301 mph, which was the top-end of the F5 scale.
Also, poor Moore. They really are the heart of tornado alley with how often they get hit and how badly it is.
I live and Oklahoma, and pretty much every day in May we have some kinda severe weather warning.
3:10 Well, I found out how Supercell got its name.
When am i gonna get my stimulus check?
The accuracy of Vox really blows me away...
They sure did a hail of a job!
Hahahahahahahaha
@@kelly2flyRemove the political Vox and you will have a good Vox
i wouldn't say it's 100% accurate but it's definitely better than a lot of videos about tornadoes.
@@sib113 you just have bad politics
Somewhere in Nowhere...
*Eustace!? EUSTACE?!*
Napoleon I Bonaparte man of culture
Napoleon I Bonaparte man, this brings me a lot of nostalgic
nah. Another courage the cowardly dog nostalgia
Childhood 😔💕
i loved watching courage the cowardly dog great times
The first person to study Tornado, Vox and didies* was Da Vinci. He was obsessed how these phenomenal happened.
Always enjoy pretty much everything you guys put out on vids. Look forward into watching
Thank you for the well presented information
that's why move to Singapore where you are shielded from all sorts of disasters including tornadossss
Why did you write 3 extra s
until a tsunami hits and wipes it off the planet or rising sea levels sink it . . .
I think Bangladesh is also situated in a tornado alley too, I’ve heard that they’ve had such deadly tornado outbreaks that it rivals the US. Plus the living conditions there are really crowded and densely packed with homes that are essentially shacks, so they just don’t stand a chance when it’s a particularly deadly season
being from another country, it honestly feels like tornadoes are exclusive to the US 😂 also same thing with aliens for some reason they only "visit" the US lol
lucky you, after all ignorance is bliss. I was born and raise in EU country and i had to witness 2 tornadoes, between F1 and F2 grade.
@@RejectedInch I’m from the u.s and I’ve never seen a tornado which is ironic. Honestly my state has no natural disasters besides haboobs once like every 5 years and 110+ degree heat in the summer
Here is Australia we get excessive bush fires, the ones in 2020 were so severe they caused fire tornadoes (known as fire whirls mostly) which we often get when the fire conditions are so severe.
@@RejectedInch i’m thankful i’ve never been through one although I’ve been through like 6 hurricanes. I’m from Cancun!
@@lulub517 wow this is so scary
I live in California and have never experience one but to be honest I don’t think I want to so I’ll stay put 😂
Same, I used to be so scared of them I thought they happened in cali but they don’t really.
Small ones aren't bad, tbh. It's when they're EF3 or higher that you need to be worried. I live in Kansas and I always see at least one a year, but I've only ever had 2 bad ones hit my city.
Honestly, earthquakes are more dangerous.
Dope, weather is kinda interesting. Do more videos on it.
That’s really cool. I’m glad I learned about it. Thanks, Vox!
I have had this question since I was a teenager and saw world news and US pop culture. Why are there so many tornadoes there and now I finally understand. Thanks Vox!!!
Northeastern U.S is really peaceful, just the occasional snow storm.
I don't know how far Northeast you are I'm in Ohio I have seen plenty of Ohio tornadoes
To put it short, steamy wind+desert wind+icy wind=killer spinny wind
watching here after what happened in Kentucky subscriber here from 🇵🇭
Marylander here! We actually get tornado warnings a surprising amount, despite being pretty far from tornado alley! Mad respect to those that live there and get tornadoes constantly!
your videos always make me wonder how can this be free. Great job, guys.
Japan: HOLD MY EARTHQUAKE
Philippines: WHERE'S MY TYPHOON
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba is basically Canada’s tornado alley. The cold, dry air from The Northwest Territories, the warm humid air from BC and the dense humid air from The Rocky Mountains. The Plains over in Central Canada and Western Canada has warm dry air, the area conjures up major storms at least every year on June 5th - June 14th, these are the days of which the most severe storms start during the beginning of Summer at least to my knowledge (I live in Alberta, Canada), the Gulf Of Mexico’s very warm and moist air sometimes carries up into Central Canada but it’s not always, and the strong draft of air seems to come from 3 different parts, Hudson’s Bay, BC, NWT and a bit from The Gulf Of Mexico.
Nice, easy to understand video. Thank you
I expected a small tornado in the room when they used the fans but to my surprise
*I'm disappointed*
0:24 I like how politely the tornados ignore Spain.
I must have been in Spain when the whole of Europe got hit by 300 tornadoes!
Spain gets tornadoes, but not as many as Italy
Haha yes
You just helped me with my meteorology homework. Thank you!
Now that was very well explained and presented
1 year before we see it tornado in turkey(antalya city) it's first time tornado in turkey (sorry for bad english)
Last year we saw a tornado in Antalya, Turkey. It was the first time we had a tornado in Turkey.
*Fixed it for you :)
@@mohammadnoor8429 I saw a tornado in Greece up in Chalkidiki (Northern Macedonia).
Last month there was a tornado in Büyükçekmece,İstanbul
i always assumed the US didn't have more tornadoes
we just didn't have as much tracking data for the rest of the world
Ah, I love tornados! Great video, Kim and team! Really interesting :)
A perfect explanation. Thanks! Now I understand.
Canada is having a tornado outbreak right now.
Where?
@@isabelladiaz6547 in canada
@@benom1712 lol.
Cnek which provinces? I live in Alberta haven’t heard about any.
The area north of the Great Lakes?
1:03 Finally, something Alaska and Rhode Island have in common.
My earliest memory as a child was a tornado going over our house while we huddled and prayed in the basement. We remained unharmed, if not a bit shaken.
Oml that’s terrifying 😩
I'm in Nebraska and I have seen two tornadoes and been far too close to many more. It's just part of life here.
Remember, a clash of Cold Dry air from Canada and Hot Humid Air from the golf of Mexico over the Midwest along a cold front and the jet stream is really good for tornado development pretty simple!
Tornado development isn't that simple because it depends on many factors. For instance, you can have unstable air and minimal wind shear which would lead to weak thunderstorms. A strong jet stream doesn't guarantee that directional shear will be present, unidirectional winds aren't particularly favorable for tornadoes. Finally, tornado development depends on storm mode or put more simply what type of storms form. Isolated supercells along a dry line are much more likely to produce tornadoes than a strongly forced squall line along a cold front. Storm mode depends on wind shear, instability, the amount of forcing, and the amount of inhibition to rising air. A strong jet stream leading to winds which are parallel to the front or a localized boundary leads to a clustered or linear storm mode which isn't particularly favorable for tornadoes. Remember, this video presents a very simplified explanation which talks about the big picture but doesn't address the small scale details which can make or break a tornado.
Ethan Greenberg true
When I was little my family once wanted to move to the US and I was scared, I told them that I was afraid of the tornadoes there. Lol
At 52 approaching 53 years old, living in SC I have seen 2 tornadoes in my lifetime. One of them I watched form & got caught in. I think it was '88 or '89. The 2nd one I saw forming as I was driving down the road. It touched down just about 2 miles from my house.
Could be more easy to learn?? Thank u so much for the excellent material, awesome work 💯👏👏
I heard a woman on the bus saying “Did you see that torpedo last night?”
When you live in central Kansas and have seen flying cows
F
Nice clear explaination.
Typically tornado alley also extends a bit into areas of southern prairie Canada. My aunt’s house was completely destroyed by one this time last year
Technically there are three tornado alleys
I was surprised that western part of Bangladesh, my home nation, gets tornadoes. We often get cyclones.
Bangladesh is the home of the world's most deadly tornado
@StuckDucks look up the Birmingham tornado
Great explanation!
vox educating me on stuff i didn’t even know i needed
I read the title as tomatoes and I was really confused
amit kumar amm That actually may be true I love tomatoes
Tornado Recipe:
1 Thunderstorm (must be warm and moist also uplifting)
1 Jet Stream
1 supercell
Boom now you have your tornado
Don't see how Missouri was left out of the main part of Tornado Alley. Had some of the worst recorded. The Joplin,MO Tornadoes most recent years.
Yeah, I remember that day and the weeks after. It was so horrible.
@@kayleyschurman8638 yes, rode past it a couple years after it happened, and it still looked obliterated. I think they've recovered for the most part.
Remember when we had that tornado terror thing long time ago, we had so many tornado storms in one season that I couldn't remember how many times I saw a tornado at that time.
My gf is from Kansas and I’m canadian😂 she’s not faze with how the weather is there unlike me😂 but couldn’t stand -30 weather here in Canada
2:58 how to make Americans understand
True
Hey Vox!
Can we please have a schedule from you for the different series you upload (Ex. Darkroom every X day or Almanac every Y day). Thankyou!
Btw, love your videos.
I lived in Tulsa, OK for two years and witnessed 3 tornadoes & 2 earthquakes ..all in just two years ..the weather out there is unpredictable
You know it's bad, when your watching this and living in Nebraska
“Get out humans THIS IS OUR LAND”
What?
I like how at 1:05 you can see how bad Florida and Alabama also are, even worse than SD that they highlight, but they aren't even mentioned lol
I live in the northeast, and I’ve seen one tornado in my life. But boy is there blizzards and hurricanes.
i live in colorado. i didnt know it was apart of tornado ally.
im telling my parents to move now, tornados are very deadly, even ef-0's
"In the heart of tornado alley", more like the feet...
Had a friend from the coast visiting, I live in the ally, and he didn’t believe me that tornados because just pop up randomly with no warning at any time (happens when small pockets of low pressure meet high pressure)
I live in Massachusetts and we have had at least three tornadoes that I know of. One in the distant past in Worcester, the 1970's. One in Worcester just about a decade ago. Finally, one just last year in Webster, Massachusetts.
You forgot to talk about the much more violent Dixie alley, they have more tornadoes than tornado calley per year
why am I watching this we have never experienced a tornado
Samuel Cruz thrilling not until someone dies
Oh chill, it's nothing new to us americans...
I live in Tornado Alley. I think think the area between central Nebraska and central Oklahoma is probably Ground Zero for the worst tornadoes. (That's where I live.) This area probably sees more EF-5's than anywhere. The video explains why here (1:40). This area gets the hot, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico along with the cooler, dry air from Canada. When these air systems hit, bam! You get a massive killer tornado.
Mississippi just had multiple tornadoes come through. Entire communities we're destroyed and over 20 were killed