While tornado season isn’t exactly defined, it is said to go from late winter to mid-summer. Although tornadoes can happen anytime of the year if conditions are right, tornado season marks the time when tornadoes are most likely to occur.
In the most recent report found for 2009, according to USA Today, at the end of June there had been 21 deaths caused by tornadoes in the United States on the year so far. This is way down from the 121 deaths caused by the same time last year. The annual record for deaths due to tornadoes is 794 which occurred in 1925.
Tornadoes are some of nature’s greatest fury. To learn more about tornadoes we have created a list of interesting tornado facts:
- Tornado winds may reach up to 300 miles per hour!
- Tornadoes have been observed on every continent except for Antarctica.
- Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.
- During a typical year, about 800 tornadoes are reported across the U.S.
- Tornadoes have averaged 63 deaths per year over the last decade.
- The world’s deadliest tornado occurred in 1989 in Bangladesh where 1,300 people died, 12,000 were injured and 80,000 were left homeless.
- The deadliest tornado in the U.S. occurred in 1925 across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana where it killed 695 people and injured 2,027 others.
- While Tornado Alley is not specifically defined, it is the area between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains.
The above map shows the frequency of tornadoes from 1950 to 1998. The dark areas have the highest frequency.
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