where do tornadoes happen in the united states
Tornadoes in the United States Most tornadoes in the United States occur east of the Rocky Mountains. The Great Plains, the Midwest, the Mississippi Valley and the southern United States are all areas that are vulnerable to tornadoes. They are relatively rare west of the Rockies and are also less frequent in the northeastern states. Tornado Alley is a colloquial term for an area particularly prone to tornadoes. There is no officially defined 'Tornado Alley' – at its broadest this area stretches from North Texas to Canada with its core centered on Oklahoma, Kansas and northern Texas. Another highly significant region – colloquially known as Dixie Alley – is the southern United States and particularly the northern and central parts of Alabama and Mississippi. Florida is one of the most tornado prone states. However, Florida tornadoes only rarely approach the strength of those that occur elsewhere.
Tornado intensity Tornadoes vary in intensity regardless of shape, size, and location, though strong tornadoes are typically larger than weak tornadoes. The association with track length and duration also varies, although longer track (and longer lived) tornadoes tend to be stronger.[3] In the case of violent tornadoes, only a small portion of the path area is of violent intensity; most of the higher intensity is from subvortices.[4] In the United States, 80% of tornadoes are EF0 and EF1 (T0 through T3) tornadoes. The rate of occurrence drops off quickly with increasing strengthâ€”less than 1% are violent tornadoes (EF4, T8 or stronger).[5]