Tornado Alley

Tornado Alley is the American Meteorological Society's designation for the area of the United States in which tornadoes are most frequent. It encompasses the great lowland areas of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and lower Missouri River Valleys. Although no state is entirely free of tornadoes, they are most frequent in the Plains area between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians.

Related Topics:
American Meteorological Society - United States - Tornado - Mississippi - Ohio - Missouri River - State - Plains - Rocky Mountains - Appalachians

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In the heart of Tornado Alley, building codes are often stricter than those for other parts of the U.S., requiring strengthened roofs and more secure connections between the building and its foundation. Other common precautionary measures include the construction of storm cellars, and the installation of tornado sirens.

Related Topics:
Building code - Roof - Foundation - Storm cellar - Tornado sirens

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Statistically, most US tornadoes occur in Texas http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/tornadoes/st-trank.html. However, when land area is taken into account, Florida has the highest density of tornado occurrence in the country http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/severeweather/small/avgtpsm.gif. Throughout the many tornado seasons however, most damage is done in the plains states, including Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas. These states will regularly see millions of dollars of damage in the tornado season (March to November).

Related Topics:
Texas - Florida - Kansas - Oklahoma - Nebraska

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