Is Tennessee Part Of Tornado Alley Or Not?

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I heard a report on the TV news recently about Tennessee being part of tornado alley.

They were saying that technically, it’s not. But realistically it probably should be. (That report also has some interesting Tennessee tornado facts in it.)

And here’s a video report from another local TV station about Tennessee being in ‘the new tornado alley’. They also said in a related report that Tennesseans are living in the NEW tornado alley.

 

So I dug around a little to try and find some stats about Tennessee tornadoes…

 

Tennessee Tornadoes

TornadoChaser points out that tornado maps differ greatly from source to source. I find that interesting…

I always thought there was a clear-cut area they were talking about whenever you heard mention of ‘tornado alley’.

Guess not.

Some consider tornado alley as the area where only the most intense killer tornadoes are likely to occur, looking where F4 and F5 tornadoes have struck in history multiple times. Others draw tornado alley only where tornado frequency is the highest, looking at areas that have recorded multiple tornado touchdowns consistently year after year. Source

 

Here’s a great video explaining Tennessee twisters are more deadly than Tornado Alley, and why it is where it is. [The weather experts happen to mention the fact that the term ‘tornado alley’ is simply a term coined by the media… there’s really not a scientific definition.]

 

A Couple Of Tornado Alley Maps:

  

Tennessee Tornado Facts

• Major Tornado Outbreat In East Tennessee (1995)
• A Tornado Climatology of Middle Tennessee (1830-2003)
• Number of Killer Tornadoes By State (2000 to present)
• Middle Tennessee Tornado Database (1830 to present)
• Tennessee Tornadoes by County (1950-1995)
• Tennessee Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Straight-Line Winds
• Tennessee Tornadoes (1950-1995)

Here’s an interesting video showing 5 days of Tornado-generating storms moving from Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri into Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana:

 

UPDATE: Here’s the latest info about tornado alley, including new tornado alley maps.