Does El Niño Mean More Active Tornado Season?
USA Today had a brief article earlier this week regarding the question of whether the strong El Niño this week will cause a more active tornado season than in past years. The article quotes Greg Forbes, a severe weather expert at The Weather Channel, as saying in past winters with similar El Nino strengths, “the average was 9% more tornadoes than a typical year.”
El Niño is a seasonal weather pattern in which warm equatorial winds that periodically push toward the West Coast send moist air to the nation’s interior.
While tornadoes can happen anytime of the year, in the USA, they are most common in the first half of the year. The 2010 tornado season has had a slow start, with 44 tornadoes reported through Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The average number for this time is 162, according to the weather service. Although data are not yet final, The Weather Channel counted 1,145 tornadoes last year, compared with 1,272 in an average year. The federal Storm Prediction Center counted 1,156 tornadoes last year, which killed 21 people.
Personally, I’m hoping for an active tornado season, but not a destructive one. I’m hoping to get out and do some storm chasing this season, but I would hate for a tornado to injure anybody or cause mass destruction. I’m looking forward to getting some awesome pictures!