‘Tornado Alley’ is Moving Closer to Pennsylvania
It doesn’t take a meteorologist to sense that tornado activity is picking up in the Pennsylvania area. As it turns out, a new report out has weather experts stating that tornado alley is moving closer to Michigan. The experts behind this report have been tracking tornado activity for decades, and the trend is definitely shifting across the U.S.
‘Tornado Alley’ and Pennsylvania
We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. I remember as a kid, I always thought of tornado alley being in Kansas, because of the Wizard of Oz movie. But, tornados are becoming more common in areas of the country that aren’t exactly known for their tornado activity and funnels. According to a recent study by Timothy Coleman, Richard Thompson and former Weather Channel severe weather expert Greg Forbes, tornado activity is changing each year. By tracking tornado alley over the decades, the study, which was published in April in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, describes where tornados are moving in the U.S. To conduct the study, the experts utilized information from two different datasets, each covering 35 years, to see exactly where and when tornadoes have been happening.
According to the study, “the most active tornado corridor in the U.S. has changed in recent decades,” states Weather.com. First of all, there are more winter tornados than ever before. That probably has to do with winters being more mild across the U.S. On the flip side of that, tornadoes have decreased more in the summer months than any other season. Tornado activity is “focused in the lower Mississippi Valley, but still is active into the lower Ohio Valley and Southern Plains,” they explain.
As for what has changed most, in the past 35 years, the biggest increase in tornado activity “has been from western Kentucky and the lower Ohio Valley to Mississippi and Louisiana.” Areas of the Plains, parts of Texas to Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and western Missouri have seen fewer tornados. The study also says, via CBSNews.com, that “Tornado activity is now much more likely to impact the Midwest and Southeast.” Here’s where Pennsylvania comes in. CBSNews.com also points out that, “Another map shows that from 1986 to 2020, tornadogenesis peaked in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Such events also were increasing further east, including Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.” What’s more, the changes have been happening since 1951, according to the study. My area got pummeled with a cyclone-type storm last August, and I really hope the tornado activity doesn’t return this season. The Accuweather.com tornado videos are pretty terrifying, if you ask me.
