Do most tornadoes hit small outlying cities or big cities?

Answer 1

Yes, a tornado can hit anywhere in the U.S., Spain, Australia, and a few other countries. But here in the U.S., tornadoes often hit in the Midwest (from middle Illinois and Indiana to Texas and the southern states.) Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi. These are the states hit the most in the U.S., but a tornado can hit anywhere at anytime of the year.

Answer 2

Yes. Contrary to popular belief tornadoes can and do strike cities. Cities hit by tornadoes include Oklahoma City; St. Louis, Missouri; Fort Worth, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Birmingham, England; New York City; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Joplin, Missouri.

Answer 3

Generally not. The widest path ever recorded in a tornado was 2.5 miles. Most cities are bigger than that and most tornadoes are smaller. So a large tornado can affect a significant portion of a city, but usually not an entire city. This is different for small towns, which on occasion have been completely engulfed by tornadoes.

Answer 4

Yes. The mechanisms that drive a tornado dwarf any man made strucure, so tall buildings will not siginificantly affect a tornado. Tornadoes have impacted a few major downtown areas including Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City. The only reason such events don't happen more often is that these downtown areas are relatively small targets.

Answer 5

Neither. Most tornadoes strike rural areas and never touch cities. Of those that do, more hit smaller cities. This, however, is not because something about cities prevent them from being hit. It is simply a matter of geometric probability. Most tornadoes occur in rural area simply because most of the land area of any country is either rural or wilderness. The area cities take up is tiny by comparison, and an equally small percentage of tornadoes hit those cities. Similarly, there are more small cities than there are big ones, so more tornadoes will inevitably hit those smaller ones. If you take any square mile of land, so long as it is in the same region, it will have the same chance of being hit by a tornado, regardless of whether it is farmland or in a big or small city.

That said, how many tornadoes an area gets is affected by climate. It so happens that in the United States, most of the big cities are clustered near the east and west coasts, while the climate most favorable for tornadoes is on the central plains, which have fewer cities.

Answer 6

Yes. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing to stop a tornado from hitting big cities. It does not seem to happen so much because big cities only take up a tiny portion of the land in the country. Major U.S. cities that have been hit by tornadoes include Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Miami.