While the number of tornadoes and tornado days has been decreasing in the historical “Tornado Alley” in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska in recent years, in so-called “Dixie Alley” in the Southeast tornado occurrences have been increasing, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.  Researcher compared tornadoes in two periods to see how tornado patterns have changed over time.  The first period was 1954-1983, a cooler period, and the second 1984-2013, a period that has been generally warmer across the US.

The research showed the correlation between the temperatures and where the severe weather was occurring, but did not provide a good explanation for why this relationship existed, so more work needs to be done in the future to understand why this might be happening.  You can read about the research and find links to the original work at https://www.iflscience.com/environment/climate-change-shifting-path-american-tornadoes/all/.

dixie alley

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