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14-01-2023, 12:49 PM
By SETH BORENSTEIN
yesterday
DENVER (AP) — A La Nina weather pattern, warm moist air coming from an unusually toasty Gulf of Mexico, likely juiced by climate change, and a decades long eastward shift of tornadoes came together to create the unusually early and deadly storm system that hit Alabama Thursday, meteorologists said.
And it may be the start of a bad tornado year, one expert worries.
......
For tornadoes to form, two big ingredients are needed that often aren’t at high enough levels at the same time: wet stormy instability and wind shear, which is a difference in wind speeds and directions at different altitudes.
At this time of year, “shear is a guarantee,” said Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. “What happens is when you get moisture you can have a (storm) system. That is the ingredient that is usually missing this time of year.”
......
Measurements of moisture in the Alabama air were about twice as high as they should be this time of year and more like May in Tornado Alley, an area stretching from Texas to South Dakota known for being prone to twisters, Gensini said. That’s more than enough for a tornado.
The warm moist air is from the Gulf of Mexico and he said, “that’s a climate change signal.”
......
“Look at that number. 70 (21 degrees Celsius). 70. 70. That is ridiculous. That’s way above average” for this time of year.
......
Tornado activity is increasing most in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio and Michigan. The biggest drop in number of tornadoes is in Texas, but even with the decline, Texas still gets the most tornadoes of any state.
......
A nasty side effect of tornadoes moving further east is that they are moving from less populated areas to more crowded ones
......
“There’s more poverty in the Southeast, there’s a greater mobile home population” which is one of the most dangerous places to be in a tornado, Brooks said.
https://apnews.com/article/tornadoes-sci...009576cc5e
yesterday
DENVER (AP) — A La Nina weather pattern, warm moist air coming from an unusually toasty Gulf of Mexico, likely juiced by climate change, and a decades long eastward shift of tornadoes came together to create the unusually early and deadly storm system that hit Alabama Thursday, meteorologists said.
And it may be the start of a bad tornado year, one expert worries.
......
For tornadoes to form, two big ingredients are needed that often aren’t at high enough levels at the same time: wet stormy instability and wind shear, which is a difference in wind speeds and directions at different altitudes.
At this time of year, “shear is a guarantee,” said Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. “What happens is when you get moisture you can have a (storm) system. That is the ingredient that is usually missing this time of year.”
......
Measurements of moisture in the Alabama air were about twice as high as they should be this time of year and more like May in Tornado Alley, an area stretching from Texas to South Dakota known for being prone to twisters, Gensini said. That’s more than enough for a tornado.
The warm moist air is from the Gulf of Mexico and he said, “that’s a climate change signal.”
......
“Look at that number. 70 (21 degrees Celsius). 70. 70. That is ridiculous. That’s way above average” for this time of year.
......
Tornado activity is increasing most in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio and Michigan. The biggest drop in number of tornadoes is in Texas, but even with the decline, Texas still gets the most tornadoes of any state.
......
A nasty side effect of tornadoes moving further east is that they are moving from less populated areas to more crowded ones
......
“There’s more poverty in the Southeast, there’s a greater mobile home population” which is one of the most dangerous places to be in a tornado, Brooks said.
https://apnews.com/article/tornadoes-sci...009576cc5e
