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Tornadoes are shifting farther east in United States, study finds

By Danielle Cinone
New York Daily News
Oct 17th 2018 12:02PM

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Tornadoes are travelling farther east in the United States — leaving scientists perplexed.

Evidence of a “Dixie Alley” — an eastward extension of the “Tornado Alley” in the central Great Plains — has been identified, according to a new study by Climate and Atmospheric Science.

The study, published Wednesday, details how tornado activity is increasing in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio and Michigan.

Although tornadoes have been decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, Texas still has the most tornadoes.

Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas are the four deadliest states for tornadoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“More folks are generally at risk because of that eastward shift,” Victor Gensini, the study’s lead author, said.

The study measured changes in key tornado ingredients.

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Data was obtained by the Storm Prediction Center’s online database from 1979 to 2017.

Gensini and tornado scientist Harold Brooks studied “significant tornado parameters” instead of the number of tornadoes.

The three ingredients of tornado conditions are wind speed and direction at different altitudes, and how unstable air and humidity is.

“This is what you would expect in a climate change scenario, we just have no way of confirming it at the moment,” Gensini said, as he explained how a decrease in moisture is causing the Great Plains to dry out.

Gensini and other scientists don’t believe the tornado changes are caused by global warming.

https://www.aol.com/article/weather/2018/10/17/tornadoes-are-shifting-farther-east-in-united-states-study-finds/23563942/