Kelsey Ellis, an associate professor of geography at the University of Tennessee, explained that December tornadoes are not unusual in the Southeast, and said these types of storms occur when cold, dense air interacts with warm air, creating unstable climate conditions.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, the United States has 24 tornadoes in December on average. In years past, December has nearly reached 100 tornadoes. Here is a look at the top 5 years with the most tornadoes in December.
A three-year average of 47 tornadoes has been reported in the United States during the month of December, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The multi-state outbreak is shaping up to be unusual, especially in how much farther north than usual it occurred.
When I was reading we ran into the query “How often do tornadoes occur in December?”.
On average, about two dozen tornadoes form in the Lower 48 states each December. Most of them occur in the western Gulf Coast region and lower Mississippi Valley. Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi are particularly vulnerable. December tornadoes can be violent.
Is it possible to get a tornado in December?
But tornadoes can occur whenever warm, moist, unstable air combines with a favorable arrangement of winds in the vicinity of a storm system. And that combination can happen any time of year. In December, there is an area of the country far more prone to this kind of environment than any other,.
Why are some states more vulnerable to tornadoes in the winter?
Proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and jet stream winds are two of the factors that make some Southern U. S. States more vulnerable to tornadoes in the winter months.
This is what we stumbled across. adkins told Newsweek wintertime tornadoes can be “particularly dangerous” because limited daylight hours means there is a greater chance a tornado will occur after dark. Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee also have the greatest percentages of tornadoes that occur at night, he said.
When is tornado season in the southeast?
Spring is typically considered tornado season, but tornadoes can occur at any time throughout the year. The Southeast experiences a second peak in tornadic activity in the fall and early winter, and winter tornadoes are not uncommon.
The five years with the most tornadoes since 1950 were all in the last two decades. There have only been 13 recorded years with over 1,200 tornadoes, all of which in the last 30 years.
How many deaths in a tornado?
The statistic shows the number of fatalities due to tornadoes in the United States from 1995 to 2019. In 2019, there were a total of 42 fatalities reported due to tornadoes in the United States. Already a member?