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

[WhatUpFLA]

Hi, y'all. I was just wondering if the Houston Metropolitan Area is less prone to tornadoes than the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I always thought that DFW was located in Tornado Alley and thus, more prone to larger, more severe tornadoes than the Houston area. Is this true? Is Houston located in Tornado Alley? And, if tornadoes are your least favorite weather occurrence, which metropolitan area do y'all recommend I look into if I plan on relocating to The Lone Star state? Keep in mind that I'm currently living in South Florida, so I'm more partial to cold weather than the threat of hurricanes. LOL. Your responses will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless!

[DanielWayne]

Houston is less prone than DFW, and it is not in tornado alley, but we still get tornadoes. Yes they are more severe around DFW. I'm pretty sure Austin and SA get just as bad thunderstorms as Houston, so you may have to try El Paso.

[Jess.Johnson]

We prone to get tornadoes higher than average than the rest of the country,

But DFW is more prone to tornado than in Houston because its closer to the center of tornado alley than Houston...but there havent been any tornado in these locals for a long time..

If you would want colder weather than DFW would be more to your liking
If you would enjoy hotter more extreme version of South Florida weather than houston is your best bet

We would love for you to move to Houston area though

[KerrTown]

The Gulf moderates the weather enough to make tornadoes infrequent.

[SouthernBoy205]

Then again, Houston is prone to hurricanes which are more destructive and long lasting than tornadoes.

[SouthernBoy205]

This is the Tuscaloosa tornado. This video is being taken at the McFarland and 15th Street.
YouTube - 4/27/11 - Tuscaloosa Tornado

[irishlover]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Then again, Houston is prone to hurricanes which are more destructive and long lasting than tornadoes.

Not true...both are destructive but an F5 tornado, such as the one that hit Tuscaloosa Wednesday, is substantially more destructive than any hurricane (even a Cat5) especially when weighted on a per square mile basis.. F5 tornadoes can have winds over 300mph...cat 5 hurricanes 180mph or less. F5 tornadoes can pull asphalt off a street and level a home down to the foundation in a few seconds.

Both types of storms are destructive...tornadoes are typically destructive over a smaller area but look at what happened this week...most of the middle of Alabama was devastated by multiple tornadoes in this "outbreak". And, with hurricanes, you typically have many hours and sometimes days to evacuate...a violent tornado can be on top of you without warning.


To answer the OP, Houston is substantially less prone to violent tornadoes than the DFW area. DFW is much closer to the heart of tornado alley and has seem a much higher frequency of tornado touchdowns over the last 100 years. DFW also has a much higher chance of a strong/violent (F3 or greater) than Houston.

Also, it really has nothing to do with the "gulf influence"...quite the contrary actually...high dewpoints/moisture is one ingredient for violent tornado formation...something Houston has a lot of. It really has more to do with the exact combination of Gulf moisture, dry surface air "punching" into the surface moist air and divergent wind direction as you increase in altitude...aka...wind shear. Latitudinally these conditions come together more often north of Houston...in the DFW...OKC...Wichita KS...Des Moine Iowa corridor.

Here is a interesting graphic...Mean number of days per century with at least one F2 or greater tornado touching down in grid box. Based on data from 1921-1995. Contour interval 5 days with lowest contour 5

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/brook...non/Image6.gif

[Sunderpig2]

Yes. We're outside of "tornado alley". Of course, that doesn't make us immune to tornadoes - they can happen anywhere in the US - but the conditions make them less likely than north Texas. On the other hand, we do have to worry about hurricanes, but it helps to have the extra time to prepare for them.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by irishlover

Not true...both are destructive but an F5 tornado, such as the one that hit Tuscaloosa Wednesday, is substantially more destructive than any hurricane (even a Cat5) especially when weighted on a per square mile basis.. F5 tornadoes can have winds over 300mph...cat 5 hurricanes 180mph or less. F5 tornadoes can pull asphalt off a street and level a home down to the foundation in a few seconds.

Both types of storms are destructive...tornadoes are typically destructive over a smaller area but look at what happened this week...most of the middle of Alabama was devastated by multiple tornadoes in this "outbreak". And, with hurricanes, you typically have many hours and sometimes days to evacuate...a violent tornado can be on top of you without warning.


To answer the OP, Houston is substantially less prone to violent tornadoes than the DFW area. DFW is much closer to the heart of tornado alley and has seem a much higher frequency of tornado touchdowns over the last 100 years. DFW also has a much higher chance of a strong/violent (F3 or greater) than Houston.

Also, it really has nothing to do with the "gulf influence"...quite the contrary actually...high dewpoints/moisture is one ingredient for violent tornado formation...something Houston has a lot of. It really has more to do with the exact combination of Gulf moisture, dry surface air "punching" into the surface moist air and divergent wind direction as you increase in altitude...aka...wind shear. Latitudinally these conditions come together more often north of Houston...in the DFW...OKC...Wichita KS...Des Moine Iowa corridor.

Here is a interesting graphic...Mean number of days per century with at least one F2 or greater tornado touching down in grid box. Based on data from 1921-1995. Contour interval 5 days with lowest contour 5

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/brook...non/Image6.gif

Not all of the middle of Alabama was devasted. Only small parts were. Thanks for clearing up the difference of a hurricane and a tornado. I was thinking about Katrina.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Yes, DFW is much more likely to experiance tornadoes than the Houston area. DFW and the areas to the north are closer to the center of clashing air masses (dry air from the west, cool air from the north, and hot air from the gulf) which is what tornadoes and super cell thunderstorms feed on.

Originally Posted by irishlover

Not true...both are destructive but an F5 tornado, such as the one that hit Tuscaloosa Wednesday, is substantially more destructive than any hurricane (even a Cat5) especially when weighted on a per square mile basis.. F5 tornadoes can have winds over 300mph...cat 5 hurricanes 180mph or less. F5 tornadoes can pull asphalt off a street and level a home down to the foundation in a few seconds.

The difference is that tornadoes devestate an area of a mile or less usually (tornadoes wider than that are rare, but they do happen). The largest tornado ever recorded with in Nebraska at 2.1 miles at the base.

Compare that to a hurricane which can be the size of the state of Texas and still produce winds over 130 mph. Plus, if you ask any meterologist, they will tell you that a hurricanes biggest threat is not wind, its water. Look at what Allison did to Houston. The winds were not an issue at all. Instead it just rained for hours and hours. Look at the primary damage Ike caused. It was mostly water based closer to the coast.

For me, I grew up with earthquakes and they dont bother me at all. Tornadoes and hurricanes take getting used to. Its just what youre used to I guess.