What is?~Tornado Alley

Tornadoes, one of natures most destructive feats. They destroy houses, forests, and even kill people. But there is something that you may not know about Tornadoes. There's an area that is especially vulnerable to them, it is called Tornado Alley.

This area which is called Tornado Alley usually sees dry air from the Rocky Mountains and warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, and once they see rotation from the ground to the air (as the updraft that forms thunderstorms can lift up the rotation from the ground) that is where we see Tornadoes. Tornado Alley is also the area can see some of the more violent Tornadoes that can do the most destruction to towns or even crops.

Created in 1971 by Japanese-American Meteorologist Theodore Fujita this Tornado wind speed and damage scale which would bear Fujita's name, the "Fujita Scale" determines the wind speed and the potential damage a Tornado can do. In 2007 the Fujita Scale was then updated to the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Tornadoes can also come in many shapes and sizes, and how big they are also determines their power and longevity, the straight thin Tornadoes do little damage, while the "wedge" Tornadoes are the most destructive. the biggest Tornado happened in 1999 when an EF5 Tornado formed and swept across the suburbs of Oklahoma City as it also left a huge amount of destruction in its wake.

The United States actually has "2" Tornado Allies, the other one is in the southern region of the country, it's called Dixie Alley (because of it's location in the "Dixie" part of the south) unlike in Tornado Alley, in Dixie Alley the Tornadoes occur during the middle or late winter (usually from January to March), and they too can see some violent Tornadoes.

If conditions are right, there can be not just one, not just a few, but a huge series of Tornadoes, these are called Tornado Outbreaks, one such outbreak occurred in April of 1974 where around 150 Tornadoes were reported in as many as 8 states from as far north as Michigan to as far south as Alabama. It wasn't until April of 2011 where that record was broken with over 300 Tornadoes, over twice as much as in 1974.

But Tornadoes do happen in other States in the US, such as in August of 1999 where an EF2 Tornado formed right in the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah. But perhaps the most historical Tornado happened in the year 1814, it was during The War of 1812, and during the time where the British were invading Washington DC, of course there were no satellites or other weather detection systems to warn the soldiers on the ground, so what they wouldn't know until it was too late that a Tornado came through the heart of the Capital City, the Tornado was strong enough to pick up British canons and fling them through the air, this Tornado also proved to be deadly, more British soldiers died from the Tornado than by American Troops, and it was enough for the British to evacuate from the city.

The United States isn't the only country that gets Tornadoes, Canada is also another country that experiences Tornadoes. Unlike the United States however, some of these Tornadoes hit areas that are largely unpopulated. Nevertheless Canada also has a Tornado Alley, or "Tornado Alleys" as one such alley stretches from Alberta to Saskatchewan to Manitoba to Southwestern Ontario, and another one going from Southeastern Ontario to Southern Quebec, and even the "Eastern Alley" can see some violent Tornadoes like in September of 2018.

Tornadoes can happen almost everywhere in the world. Europe can also get Tornadoes, they also occur in Bangladesh, even island nations such as Ireland, Great Britain, The Philippines, Japan, and New Zealand can also get Tornadoes. It is hard to say whether anywhere is safe from these violent wind storms.

That'll do it for this page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.