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Tornado Alley may be shifting East

akt1985 said:
The traditional Tornado Alley has seen less tornadoes over the past decade than Dixie Alley.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/1660803002
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Not entirely correct. They have seen a relative DECREASE in tornadoes while Dixie has seen a relative INCREASE, but Tornado Alley still has the most overall.

As for the paper itself, I'm not so sure its Tornado Alley is starting to wind down as much as it is that areas further east are just happening to get more favorable setups. If you look at the map, really the only area that's seen a MASSIVE decrease is the I-45 corridor in Texas from Houston to Dallas, which has really never been known as a huge tornado corridor to begin with. The more typical tornado alley (TX Panhandle, OK, KS, NE) have all seen relative decreases but it hasn't been as noticeable. KS and NE in particular have been fairly static with only very minor decreases. Areas SOUTH of traditional tornado alley like the I-45 corridor as well as southern Oklahoma have seen some decreases but the central alley has been fairly stable. Maybe not as hyperactive as it was several years ago but still the king. I dont' think its Tornado Alley is dying and Dixie Alley is rising as much as it is we're just seeing everywhere E of the Rockies beginning to congeal into one massive tornado prone area.
 
rolltide_130 said:
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I would also add that almost none of the historic mega-outbreaks have been in the "traditional" Tornado Alley region. They've mostly been in Dixie Alley, the Carolinas, the Great Lakes area, and the Upper Midwest. In fact in terms of the total number of violent tornadoes since 1950, Alabama and Mississippi both beat Nebraska - although only by one tornado in Mississippi's case.

I don't know if anyone else has had this take, but I've always seen "Tornado Alley" as not so much an "alley" as a backwards-J shape that covers most of the Central and Southeastern states before moving up the East Coast states a ways. And to be honest, even that's a bit arbitrary - I mean, the Illinois-Indiana-Ohio area is no stranger to tornado outbreaks, and as we've seen this year even some western states can serve up very impressive tornadoes.
 
SilentShadow87 said:
I would also add that almost none of the historic mega-outbreaks have been in the "traditional" Tornado Alley region. They've mostly been in Dixie Alley, the Carolinas, the Great Lakes area, and the Upper Midwest. In fact in terms of the total number of violent tornadoes since 1950, Alabama and Mississippi both beat Nebraska - although only by one tornado in Mississippi's case.

I don't know if anyone else has had this take, but I've always seen "Tornado Alley" as not so much an "alley" as a backwards-J shape that covers most of the Central and Southeastern states before moving up the East Coast states a ways. And to be honest, even that's a bit arbitrary - I mean, the Illinois-Indiana-Ohio area is no stranger to tornado outbreaks, and as we've seen this year even some western states can serve up very impressive tornadoes.
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If you're considering Tornado Alley the area between I-25 and I-35, it really would make more sense to name it Supercell Alley. They have by far the best storm structure in the country, and this obviously includes tornadoes as well, but areas further east as you pointed out have the big outbreaks - however those outbreaks are very messy and not typically photogenic chasing opportunities.
 
Part of me has wondered if the reason for "tornado alley" has more to do with terrain. Before advanced weather radar, smaller tornadoes could easily be missed in the southeast with our hills and trees, and aren't our storms usually a bit lower relative to the ground than Tornado Alley? If a tornado forms in middle-of-nowhere Alabama, it might not be seen by anyone. But if one touches down in Kansas, it could be seen by anyone for miles around.
 
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