Where is tornado alley located?
• There are different ways to create maps of tornado alley, the area of relatively high tornado occurrence in the USA, depending on the factors you consider. Dr. Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory has derived an image based on the number of tornado days per year from 1980-1999.
The term “Tornado Alley” refers to the region of the USA where tornadoes occur most frequently, and there is controversy on just where it is. The term is used loosely because there are no exact boundaries. Generally, the term refers to the region on the Great Plains extending from central Texas north to the Canadian border. However, tornadoes are also frequent in other parts of the country. Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project, says the USA has at least three tornado alleys. These include the Great Plains from Texas north to Minnesota. Another extends from Arkansas and Louisiana east to the Carolinas. A third lies in the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes region, from Illinois to western Pennsylvania. Smaller regions including the Florida peninsula and Massachusetts also see many tornadoes. Grazulis has much more on this in his book The Tornado: Natures Ultimate Windstorm.
