OKLAHOMA CITY —
Tornado alley is expanding. So what does that mean for you and your family? It’s a hot topic here in Oklahoma, and a lot of misinformation is out there.
“The question of whether tornado alley is moving is a really hard one to answer. A lot of it has to do with, we have to look for as long of a possible time of record and we don’t really have good accurate tornado reporting for a long time,” said Harold Brooks from the National Weather Service.
The short answer shows that yes, tornado alley is changing. KOCO First Alert chief meteorologist Damon Lane went to the National Weather Service to talk to the experts there about how they’re interpreting all of this data.
“If we look very carefully at the record, we have seen a very small decrease in the last 40 years in western Oklahoma. And when we say a small decrease, we see a 1 to 2 percent per decade,” Brooks said.
It doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but it is happening. And this is where we’re seeing that decrease.
In another area in Oklahoma, the central part of the state, there has been a small increase in tornado reports during the spring months. There has been a rather large increase in tornado frequency east of here, and that’s not the only change in tornado alley that we are seeing.
“Things I’ve noticed is in the last 10 to 15 years, we tend to be moving toward fewer days of severe weather, but the days we do see storms are higher severity,” Patrick Marsh said.
That means instead of seeing three or four tornadoes in a single day, now it’s anywhere between eight to 15. That’s a big change.
Bottom line is that tornado alley is slowly sliding to the east. We’re seeing fewer storm days, but more tornadoes. The scientists at severe storms lab believe it’s going to get worse. By how much is still uncertain.
“Tornadoes will still happen in Oklahoma all the time,” Brooks said.
It’s important to note that this new data doesn’t say that tornado alley is shifting, but that the ingredients for tornadoes are expanding. The most likely spot in the world for tornadoes still remains across the plains.
by Damon Lane (2019, Mar 27) KOCO
