We’re all familiar with tornadoes and the damage they cause. But there are some facts that may surprise you. For example, did you know that tornadoes are more common in the United States than any other country? Or that the U.S. gets more than 1,200 tornadoes a year? Or how about the fact that tornadoes can happen at any time – and they’ve been reported in all 50 states? There are some times of the year when tornadoes are more likely to occur, commonly known as tornado season.
Tornadoes happen at all times of the year, but peak during “tornado season” when the United States sees the most tornadoes out of the year. In general, tornado season usually begins in March and lasts until June. Areas in the Southern Plains (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas) see more tornadoes from May to early June. On the Gulf Coast, tornadoes are most common during early spring. Northern states and areas of the upper Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North/South Dakota) have peak tornado season in June or July.
While some people think that flat land is responsible for tornado-prone areas, it actually has more to do with where the land is positioned on the globe. Places in the middle of the Earth’s latitudes have favorable tornado conditions because of the way the wind moves through the region. One such place is the U.S. Great Plains, an area commonly referred to as Tornado Alley. In these areas, warm, moist air traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico and cool, dry air traveling south from the Rocky Mountains can collide to produce tornados.
Because spring is a time of transition from cooler temperatures to warmer weather, it creates the optimal unstable air conditions for tornadic activity throughout different areas of the country. March had barely begun when last Thursday night’s storms left trails of destruction across parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. About 40 people were injured and dozens of homes were damaged in one Indiana community. Tornadoes were also reported in Illinois and Missouri.
As AP News reports, the Indian Lake area in Ohio’s Logan County was one of the hardest hit. Three people died in the county northwest of Columbus, said Sheriff Randy Dodds. Much of the damage was in the villages of Russells Point and Lakeview. The villages are dotted with cottages owned by people who come for fishing and boating.
Search crews and cadaver dogs didn’t find any more victims Friday after going into neighborhoods that had been blocked by gas leaks and fallen trees overnight, Dodds said. “When you see this damage, you’ll be surprised it was only three,” the sheriff said. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who assessed the damage and met with residents, said it was fortunate the storm did not hit on a summer weekend.
Weather officials were assessing damage and confirming the tornadoes, counting at least five that touched down in Ohio alone.
In Indiana, a tornado injured 38 people in Winchester, where the mayor said some 130 homes and a Taco Bell restaurant were damaged or destroyed. Three people were in critical condition, but their injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said. Residents, who said they got plenty of warning to take shelter, picked tree branches and sheet metal from their yards. Shingles littered streets and fields in the town northeast of Indianapolis.
In Milton, Kentucky, two people were injured when their car was hit by debris from a tornado that damaged as many as 100 homes and businesses, said Trimble County Emergency Management Director Andrew Stark. In Arkansas, a tornado struck the retirement community of Hot Springs Village, southwest of Little Rock, but there were no reports of fatalities or injuries, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Erik Green.
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