My lovely bride returned from Denver yesterday, after surviving what must have been one of the bigger funnel outbreaks that state will see this year. Well, maybe. You see, I have for years believed that Denver was not actually in the fabled Tornado Alley of North America. But my wife's experience there earlier in the week proved that just because a place is not in Tornado Alley does not mean it will never have tornadoes. In fact my lovely bride was forced to take cover two times as funnel clouds formed directly over downtown Denver, but tornadoes did not touch down, nor was there any physical damage to speak of. But...
According to the National Weather Service, twenty-four tornadoes are reported in Colorado each year. The good news is that zero deaths by tornado are reported each year. It turns out that super cells form in and around Denver then move eastward into Tornado Alley proper. These same storms move into other states, including Texas, where they really wreak havoc each year. Colorado deals with twenty-four tornadoes yearly, while Texans can expect at least 135 twisters every year. But the fact that Denver experiences five times fewer tornadoes than Texas did not comfort my lovely bride one bit, as she sat in the basement of her hotel waiting for the all clear. Ultimately she made her way safely home, but my curiosity was set to high.
For one thing, I wondered if Denver may have been in Tornado Alley. So I checked several models of Tornado Alley on the Internet. Each map was slightly different, in that some renditions of Tornado Alley were slightly wider east and west or longer north and south, but none included Denver. For another thing, I wondered how Texas compared to the other "member" states of Tornado Alley. It turns out that Texas by far has more reported tornadoes than does any other state. The next highest number of tornadoes per year was reported by Florida, at fifty-three. I was somewhat surprised that Florida was such a distant second. On the other hand, the number of tornadoes reported in Florida is considerable, especially when one notes that Florida is not in Tornado Alley at all.
Here are a few interesting facts from the National Weather Service regarding tornadoes:
If you do not want to be in a tornado, move to Alaska, which reports zero tornadoes per year.
Hawaii is relatively "tornado safe" with only one reported tornado per year.
All of the Midwestern states report at least ten tornadoes per year, but none of those same states report more than thirty-six twisters per year.
Texas, with the most tornadoes, does not have the highest death toll. In fact, Mississippi loses the most people to tornadoes each year at ten deaths per tornado season.
While several states report zero people killed each year by tornadoes Maryland reports .07 deaths per year, Nebraska reports .7, and Delaware reports .13 deaths per year due to tornadoes. Umm...you will have to figure out these stats yourself. I mean, how can you have .13 of a dead person?
In the mean time, my lovely bride made it home safely from Denver in spite of the storms raging through the area. And remember, just because you may not live in Tornado Alley does not mean you should not listen to the weather report every now and again.
According to the National Weather Service, twenty-four tornadoes are reported in Colorado each year. The good news is that zero deaths by tornado are reported each year. It turns out that super cells form in and around Denver then move eastward into Tornado Alley proper. These same storms move into other states, including Texas, where they really wreak havoc each year. Colorado deals with twenty-four tornadoes yearly, while Texans can expect at least 135 twisters every year. But the fact that Denver experiences five times fewer tornadoes than Texas did not comfort my lovely bride one bit, as she sat in the basement of her hotel waiting for the all clear. Ultimately she made her way safely home, but my curiosity was set to high.
For one thing, I wondered if Denver may have been in Tornado Alley. So I checked several models of Tornado Alley on the Internet. Each map was slightly different, in that some renditions of Tornado Alley were slightly wider east and west or longer north and south, but none included Denver. For another thing, I wondered how Texas compared to the other "member" states of Tornado Alley. It turns out that Texas by far has more reported tornadoes than does any other state. The next highest number of tornadoes per year was reported by Florida, at fifty-three. I was somewhat surprised that Florida was such a distant second. On the other hand, the number of tornadoes reported in Florida is considerable, especially when one notes that Florida is not in Tornado Alley at all.
Here are a few interesting facts from the National Weather Service regarding tornadoes:
If you do not want to be in a tornado, move to Alaska, which reports zero tornadoes per year.
Hawaii is relatively "tornado safe" with only one reported tornado per year.
All of the Midwestern states report at least ten tornadoes per year, but none of those same states report more than thirty-six twisters per year.
Texas, with the most tornadoes, does not have the highest death toll. In fact, Mississippi loses the most people to tornadoes each year at ten deaths per tornado season.
While several states report zero people killed each year by tornadoes Maryland reports .07 deaths per year, Nebraska reports .7, and Delaware reports .13 deaths per year due to tornadoes. Umm...you will have to figure out these stats yourself. I mean, how can you have .13 of a dead person?
In the mean time, my lovely bride made it home safely from Denver in spite of the storms raging through the area. And remember, just because you may not live in Tornado Alley does not mean you should not listen to the weather report every now and again.
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