The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information collect tornado data to create a climatology of tornadoes. This climatology includes information about location as well as information about the deadliest tornadoes.
Go to www.windows2universe.org (Links to an external site.) , the Windows to the Universe site. Type “world map of tornadoes” into the search field, then select “world map of tornado occurance and agriculture production.”
1) Tornadoes tend to form in agricultural regions. What conditions make agricultural regions favorable for tornadoes?
Go to the NOAA site at www.ncdc.noaa.gov (Links to an external site.) Select “climate information”; click on “extreme events” and then “U.S. Tornado Climatology.”
2) Globally, whcih latitudes are most likely to have tornadoes? Why do tornadoes occur at these latitudes?
3) Which parts of the world are most prone to tornadoes?
4) Which country has the largest number of tornadoes per year?
5) Which U.S. state has the largest number of tornadoes per year? Which state has the fewest?
Click on “recent tornado reports and information.”
6) How many tornadoes occured in the United States during the most recent month? How does this number compare with the average number of tornadoes for that month?
Go back to NOAA’s U.S. Tornado Climatology website and click on “Historical Records and Trends.”
7) In your region, at what time of day do most tornadoes occur?
Go back to NOAA’s U. S. Tornado Climatology website and click on “deadliest tornadoes.”
8) With the exception of 2011, none of the deadliest tornadoes occurred n the past 50 years. Why are more recent tornadoes less deadly than those of the past?