Tornadoes

There were 145 recorded tornadoes in Alabama in 2011, a record for that state.

Yes, tornadoes are fairly common in Illinois. In fact, Illinois was worst hit by the Tri-State tornado of 1925, the deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

The infamous Tuscaloosa tornado of April 27, 2011 touched down in rural Green County, Alabama about 20 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa and moved northeast. The tornado was causing major damage as soon as it entered the city. The tornado maintain EF4 intensity as it passes trhough Tuscaloosa, destroying thousands of structures. In Tuscaloosa, the tornado killed 44 people and injured more than 1,000, but it wasn't finished. The tornado continued on at EF4 strength, possibly reaching EF5 strength, and struck suburbs on the north side of Birmingham, where another 20 were killed and 500 were injured.

Very powerful tornadoes are often about 20,000 feet tall.

It is impossible to determine where or when the next tornado will be. The potential for a tornado in a specific place can't be predicted much more than a few minutes ahead of time. For a general region (at least the size of a state), the potential for tornadoes can be seen hours, or sometimes days ahead of time, but it is impossible to tell where or when individual tornadoes will hit.

There were many tornadoes in Alabama. Injury statistics are not available for all of them. The Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado, one of the worst of them, injured over 1000.

Yes. An EF0 tornado touched down in Philadelphia, injuring two people.

Yes. Pennsylvania experienced its only recorded F5 tornado on May 31, 1985. The tornado first touched down in eastern Ohio, where it struck the communities of Newton Falls and Niles. It then crossed into Pennsylvania where it hit Hermitage and Wheatland in Mercer County. In all, the tornado killed 18 people. There was F5 damage in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The tornado that hit Smithville, MS on April 27, 2011 killed 23.

All states have had tornadoes in the past 50 years.

Today, May 18, 2011

There are two candidates.

On official records the most destructive tornado was the F5 that hit the Oklahoma City area on May 3, 1999. The tornado killed 36, injured 583, and caused about $1 billion in property damage. The damage path was 38 miles long and 1 mile wide. Doppler radar measured winds over 300 mph in this storm at a height of about 100 ft, the fastest ever recorded on this planet. The tornado first touched down south of Amber, Oklahoma and moved into the town of Bridge Creek where the first of the catastrophic damage occurred. The tornado then moved back out into open country before hitting the OKC area. The worst damage was in the suburb of Moore, where the tornado struck at peak intensity. It then turned to the north, continuing its trail of destruction before dissipating near Midwest City.

The other candidate is unofficial as data is not yet finalized. This was the EF5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011. This tornado killed at least 158 and injured over 1,000, marking it as the 7th deadliest in U.S. history. Damages is estimated at $1-3 billion. The damage path was 22 miles long and 3/4mile to 1 mile wide. The tornado touched down a few miles west of Joplin and grew and intensified at an explosive rate. By the time it hit Joplin it was already a very strong tornado and was still gaining strength. The tornado reached peak intensity as it passed just south of downtown Joplin with ground level winds estimated at 225-250 mph. The tornado then weakened before leaving the city, but continue to produce damage to farms and trees before dissipating some distance west of the city. When the storm was over 1/3 of Joplin was destroyed.

It varies. A tornado warning may last for just a few minutes or over an hour.

There is no way to prevent tornadoes, but warning systems have been in place for decades.

The data is not yet finalized, but there are reports that there were as many as 10,000 homes destroyed in the outbreak, which would probably mean at least 30,000 were left homeless.

Depends on which you are referring to. There were several events known as the "Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak" in 1920, 1965, and 1994. There was no warning during the 1920 event, as no warning system existed at the time. During the 1965 event, warnings were issued, but due to communication problems, few people received them as the warning system was not fully developed. Warnings were issued in the 1994 event, as by then the modern warning system was largely in place.

There is no way to avoid tornadoes. Weather conditions cause these and unfortunately there is no way to change the weather.

1925.

There were 107 confirmed tornadoes in Texas in 2010.

There were 19 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. on April 9, 2011.

Tornadoes can form quickly and sometimes do strike with no warning. However, they do not simply pop up at random. They still need thunderstorms to form.

It is uncertain which tornado was the strongest, as most tornadoes do not have their winds measured. The highest recorded wind speed was in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 3, 1999. Another possible candidate was the Xenia, Ohio tornado of April 3, 1974. See the links for pictures and video of those tornadoes.

That depends on the size of the town and how fast the tornado is traveling. The average tornado travels at about 30 mph, so it takes two minutes to travel a mile. However, some tornadoes barely move along while some travel at over 60 mph (a mile every minute).

Yes.