Experts Recommend Moving Away from the Term “Tornado Alley”

Experts Recommend Moving Away from the Term “Tornado Alley”

By Chance Robinson, IEDC Intern

Tornado Alley has dominated the myths and stories of extreme weather in America. It is where storm chasers flock in hopes to capture the intense power that a tornado produces. However, it is not Tornado Alley where you are at greatest risk of being hit or killed by a tornado, it is the Deep South. The devastating tornadoes that occurred in Alabama and Mississippi this past month are further evidence of this. In response to these tornadoes, The Washington Post released an article examining why weather experts are advocating for less recognition of Tornado Alley, and more for the Deep South. 

Tornado Alley begins in Texas and goes through Oklahoma, Kansas, and the Great Plains. This area receives media attention because of the tornadoes it produces. These tornadoes create the classic funnel shape and are over large flat farmlands, allowing for the clearest pictures from photographers and storm chasers. The media’s obsession with Tornado Valley takes awareness away from the tornadoes that occur in the Deep South.

Deep South tornadoes are much different and less likely to be caught on camera than those in the Great Plains. They are rain-wrapped and camouflaged by low clouds, and more than a third of tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi occur at night. These differing attributes worry scientists because there is an expectation to see the tornado before it hits, like in Tornado Alley, but this is not always the case for the Deep South.

Multiple variables play into the fact that tornadoes in the Deep South are deadlier than those in Tornado Alley. Higher population density, poverty, and poor housing infrastructure are all important factors that make Deep South tornadoes more destructive. Tornadoes in the Deep South also move faster, covering more land and exposing more people. These variables are a reason why scientists want to move away from the term “Tornado Valley.” Scientists believe that removing the term will assist in raising awareness of the tornadoes in the Deep South. 

Raised awareness will assist in disaster preparedness and recovery. Increased preparedness, both locally and nationally, is what will help limit the destruction that tornadoes create. Quoted in a NPR article, Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency Director, Brian Hastings, claimed that, “In Alabama, it's a matter of luck. But also luck favors the prepared.” This emphasizes the importance of preparedness for all vulnerable areas as we move into the middle of the spring tornado season.