03/01/18 - Tornado Stats, Information, and Safety

Spring has sprung! Yes, it's only Meteorological Spring but the weather doesn't care when we begin spring, severe weather can happen anything here in the south at any time. 

So even though we can have tornadoes at any time of the year, the likelihood begins to increase beginning in March. 

You can find much more detailed information about tornadoes from this link on the Storm Prediction Center's website.

It's also very important to have a safety plan in place before a tornado approaches, not after the the warning is issued, and you can get much more information about Tornado Safety at this link. Also, studies have shown that many tornado deaths are due to blunt force trauma to the head, and the study recommended helmets for everyone in the house.  Old (or new) motorcycle helmets are a wise investment. 

For the ultimate in safety,  I would highly recommend an above ground safe shelter.  These structures can be installed in garages and even closets.  Watch this video from a company in Alabama demonstrating the safety and construction of their safe room. Pretty incredible stuff. 

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The six images below show you how the probabilities and coverage expand from March 4th to April 28th. ​

Tornado Probabilities March 5

Tornado Probabilities April 1

Tornado Probabilities April 28

Here's a look at the probabilities for a significant tornado during the same time period. By the end of April, the higher threat area moves back toward the central part of the country. 

Significant Tornado Probabilities - March 4

Significant Tornado Probabilities April 1

Significant Tornado Probabilities April 28

These left chart shows on average, how many tornadoes form by month over the U.S., while the second image shows how many form based on the time of day in the southeast.  May is by far the month with the most tornadoes, although June is running a close 2nd, but once we reach May in the southeast, our chances go down and the chances increase for the central part of the country. 

Based on the chart on the right, tornado formation  in the southeast starts ramping up around 11 AM and peaks between 2-5 PM. 

U.S. Tornado Average by Month

Southeast Tornado Time of Occurrence

The two images below show the average tornadoes in March and April by state based on 1991-2010 climatology.

Average Tornadoes in March

Average Tornadoes in April

I love the Pecos Hank videos and I use some of these when I do weather talks with kids. The text below is from the YouTube page with this video.

"A season in Tornado Alley capturing tornado videos, lightning, supercells and the occasional horny toad. I witnessed 14 tornadoes, saw a lot of beautiful storm structure and extraordinary lightning.

​In 2017, roughly 1400 tornadoes touched down in the United States. 14 of those tornadoes were deadly and only 3 of those tornadoes were in Tornado Alley. The tornado season came early this year and by January 23, there were 20 tornado related fatalities... Already more than the previous years totals. Though it was active year, many storm chasers considered 2017 a mediocre year in regards to photogenic tornado activity. Many tornado outbreaks occurred at night and were displaced outside Tornado Alley making them difficult to chase."

Daily Tornado Count and Running Annual Trend

United States Annual Trends of Tornadoes

Types of Tornadoes

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