Latest Tornado climatology Stories

RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 10, 2012: Southern Texas was the area of concern yesterday as tornadoes set up along the frontal boundary. Over a dozen tornadoes were reported from just south of Houston down to around the US and Mexico border in the southeastern portion of Texas. Along with the tornadoes came large hail, which was also reported in this region with isolated reports of hail the size of golf balls.  A large area of estimated winds in...

Tornadoes are notoriously difficult to forecast, with often deadly results: In 2011, tornadoes in the U.S. killed more than 550 people, a higher death toll than in the past 10 years combined. Now a new study on short-term climate trends offers a fresh approach to tornado forecasting that may give people in tornado-prone regions more warning that twisters may soon be descending. By sorting through average atmospheric conditions in tornado-prone regions, Michael Tippet, a climate scientist...

Joshua Kelly, Meteorology Correspondent for Redorbit.com UPDATE (03.15.12): The seismic signals generated by tornadoes on February 29 and recorded by seismometers in southern Illinois were not unique, according to a spokesman for Engineering Analysis Inc. (http://www.mindspring.com/~eai/), which has been studying such signals for more than 20 years.  Dr. Frank Tatom, the co-inventor of the seismic detector of tornadoes, reported that such long period seismic signals have been...

Joshua Kelly, Meteorology Correspondent for Redorbit.com Tornado Season 2012 is off to a very fast pace from our normal standards. Many things can be put together as reasons for these extensive tornado outbreaks. One of the biggest reasons is the lack of winter that we have had this year across the United States. This allows for well above average temperatures to already be in place farther north than normal for February. Another thing to blame is La-Nina. During La-Nina years we do...

Tornadoes that occur from hurricanes moving inland from the Gulf Coast are increasing in frequency, according to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This increase seems to reflect the increase in size and frequency among large hurricanes that make landfall from the Gulf of Mexico. The findings can be found in Geophysical Research Letters online and in print in the September 3, 2009 issue."As the size of landfalling hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico increases, we're seeing...

A U.S. study suggests the climate change effect of dry autumns and winters may lead to fewer tornadoes developing during the spring season. University of Georgia researchers say global warming will likely mean more unpredictable weather conditions. They said their study indicates how drought conditions in an area's fall and winter may affect tornado activity the following spring. The scientists said their study was specific to Georgia and the Southeastern United States, but further research...

Global warming will likely mean more unpredictable weather, scientists say, and a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia pins down, possibly for the first time, how drought conditions in an area's fall and winter may effect tornado activity the following spring.The study, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, is specific to Georgia and the Southeast, but further study could reveal patterns that might make this more general"”including the already...

Warm moist air and a shifting weather pattern courtesy of the La Nina phenomenon aided in the development of the Feb. 5 tornadoes, which killed at least 50 people and were among the 15th deadliest in U.S. recorded history. But meteorologists are now trying to explain why the tornadoes occurred so early in the year.It was farther north than most February tornadoes and stronger, Joseph Schaefer, director of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., told Associated Press.Tornadoes do occur...