Smithsonian: Understanding the scale of the Monroe Tornado.

[Ichingcarpenter]

A meteorologist for the local news station KFOR called the tornado “the worst tornado in the history of the world.” That assessment is quite apt.

There are a lot of parameters by which a tornado can be deemed the worst, and by pretty much all counts today’s Moore tornado is up there. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration keeps a list of historical tornadoes—devastating twisters known for their size, their duration and their destruction. Though the Moore tornado doesn’t trump any of them, its combination of size, strength and duration made it an incredibly dangerous storm.


One factor that really set today’s Moore tornado apart was its staggering size. According to The New York Times, today’s tornado was “perhaps a mile wide.” Other reports put it closer to two miles in width. According to NOAA, the largest tornado on record hit Hallam, Nebraska in 2004. That twister was two-and-a-half miles wide. “This is probably close to the maximum size for tornadoes; but it is possible that larger, unrecorded ones have occurred,” writes NOAA of the 2004 tornado.

On top of its massive girth, today’s tornado was also incredibly strong. The Associated Press reports that wind speeds in the twister hit upwards of 199 miles per hour (320 kilometers per hour). The record holder, says NOAA, saw winds peaking at 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour.) That storm, unfortunately, hit pretty much the exact same place as this one. It swept just north of Moore on May 3, 1999.



Today’s Moore tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes. Most tornadoes last just a few minutes. But they can sit around for up to an hour. One of the most deadly tornadoes in history, the 1925 Tri-State Tornado, sat on the ground for a terrifying three-and-a-half hours.



Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/05/how-to-understand-the-scale-of-todays-oklahoma-tornado/#ixzz2TvNAEfy8
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[dipsydoodle]

1. Shit happens unfortunately

1905 was bad too : http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/20/185613204/a-brief-history-of-oklahoma-tornadoes

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. My Grandma lived in a small town in Ok.

Her old house had a shelter as did her siblings/relatives in the town and nearby farms.

[justiceischeap]

2. I want to see a story about why Oklahoma seems to have the worst tornados

I was able to find that Texas has the most (usually) but Oklahoma consistently has the worst. Why is that?

[dipsydoodle]

4. I'm remote from this being in the UK

but there are some details here :

Though Tornado Alley is considered to be in areas of the Central United States, no official definition of the term has ever been designated by the National Weather Service. According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory FAQ,[3] "Tornado Alley" is a term created by the media as a reference to areas that have higher numbers of tornadoes. Over the years, the boundaries of Tornado Alley have not been clearly defined, but the differences are the result of the different criteria used to define the region. 90% of tornadoes hit this region of the U.S because cold, dry air from Canada and the Rocky Mountains meets warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and hot, dry air from the Sonoran Desert, which causes atmospheric instability, heavy precipitation, and many intense thunderstorms.

The most common definition of Tornado Alley is the location where the strongest tornadoes occur more frequently. The core of Tornado Alley consists of northern Texas (including the Panhandle), Oklahoma and Kansas. However, Tornado Alley can also be defined as an area reaching from central Texas to the Canadian prairies and from eastern Colorado to western Pennsylvania. It can also be disputed that there are numerous Tornado Alleys. In addition to the Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas core, such areas also include the Upper Midwest, the Ohio Valley, the Tennessee Valley and the lower Mississippi valley.

The term "tornado alley" was first used in 1952 by U.S. Air Force meteorologists Major Ernest J. Fawbush (1915–1982) and Captain Robert C. Miller (1920–1998) as the title of a research project to study severe weather in parts of Texas and Oklahoma.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Alley

[justiceischeap]

7. Thanks, I searched and searched yesterday and didn't come across anything

basically, it's all about the jet streams and their convergence in the right spots.

[Tanuki]

5. This link also has answers from meteorologists to FAQs about tornadoes:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-tornado-science.htm

[dipsydoodle]

6. The significant bit in that link is here

Q: Why is the central USA so prone to tornado formation?

A: The central USA has a continental climate, which makes it susceptible to both cold and dry air from the north as well as hot and humid air from the south. Powerful jet stream winds move across the boundary between these two different air masses. Strong to severe thunderstorms often develop that can produce tornadoes. The peak months for tornadoes in the central USA are April through July.

This USA TODAY resource page shows where in the USA tornadoes are most likely, while this page explains "tornado alley."