Is Houston Metropolitan Area less prone to tornadoes than the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex? (Austin: neighborhood, middle school)

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Houston's tornadoes are weaker and many were created during hurricanes like Alicia and Ike. DFW gets more random tornadoes from Spring/Summer thunderstorms. There is a reason why the DFW area has tornado sirens and the Houston area doesn't. They aren't nearly as big of a threat down in Houston from thunderstorms, like in DFW.

That's very weird.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

That's very weird.

Why is that weird? DFW is in tornado alley and is more prone to them. Houston isn't.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Scout_972

Makes sense, and I wasn't aware Houston didn't have sirens. Is there some other warning system in place?

Nope, no other real warning system, other than the radio and TV.

[rr2005]

The fact is that Harris County leads the state in the number of tornadoes reported annually since 1950, with almost double the number of any other county. But, they tend to be weak. Here is the study compiled by the Insurance Council of Texas:
Harris County Leads Texas in Number of Tornadoes

And here is a cool interactive map:
http://www.insurancecouncil.org/fact...esbycounty.pdf

[SouthernBoy205]

When Katrina came through here, sirens were going off, but there were no tornadoes.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by rr2005

The fact is that Harris County leads the state in the number of tornadoes reported annually since 1950, with almost double the number of any other county. But, they tend to be weak. Here is the study compiled by the Insurance Council of Texas:
Harris County Leads Texas in Number of Tornadoes

And here is a cool interactive map:
[url]

Don't forget how much larger Harris County is, compared to Dallas or Tarrant Counties. And again, hurricanes are the reason for this. They always produce weak tornadoes. The Houston area doesn't have tornado sirens because there isn't a onstant threat for tornadoes.

In DFW, when the skies start looking messed up, you bet those sirens are going to go off. It freaked me out when I first heard them.

[First24]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Don't forget how much larger Harris County is, compared to Dallas or Tarrant Counties. And again, hurricanes are the reason for this. They always produce weak tornadoes. The Houston area doesn't have tornado sirens because there isn't a onstant threat for tornadoes.

In DFW, when the skies start looking messed up, you bet those sirens are going to go off. It freaked me out when I first heard them.

Hurricanes are not the sole reason for Houston's tornadoes.

'Weak tornado' is like saying you have a weak gunshot wound. No matter the size, they all can be killers.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Scout_972

Hurricanes are not the sole reason for Houston's tornadoes.

'Weak tornado' is like saying you have a weak gunshot wound. No matter the size, they all can be killers.

Of course they aren't the sole reason, but it's why Harris has more than Dallas and Tarrant combined (leaving county size out of it). As for the second part of your post.....duh! You're just much more likely to get a monster tornado in DFW than in Houston. I think Discovery Channel even did a special on that. They also did one on a hurricane hitting Houston, but at least you get days warning with those.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Don't forget how much larger Harris County is, compared to Dallas or Tarrant Counties. And again, hurricanes are the reason for this. They always produce weak tornadoes. The Houston area doesn't have tornado sirens because there isn't a onstant threat for tornadoes.

In DFW, when the skies start looking messed up, you bet those sirens are going to go off. It freaked me out when I first heard them.

and remember the hurricanes gives days in advance notice and while they are warning us about the storm surge and the winds they also warn that tornadoes may pop off too. so there is heightened alerts for these tornadoes days in advance, and they are often rather small

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by rr2005

The fact is that Harris County leads the state in the number of tornadoes reported annually since 1950, with almost double the number of any other county. But, they tend to be weak. Here is the study compiled by the Insurance Council of Texas:
Harris County Leads Texas in Number of Tornadoes

And here is a cool interactive map:
http://www.insurancecouncil.org/fact...esbycounty.pdf

Interesting

Dallas:
83 tornadoes
13 deaths
355 injuries

Harris:
211 tornadoes (mainly F0's, F1's and 2's)
11 deaths
299 injuries