Why Moore, OK? (Limestone, Kansas: tornado, living in, law)

[pw72]

Please, this is not intended to be disrespectful to the people of Moore, OK. From all I have seen on the media today, these people are extremely good-hearted, helpful, and caring.

Three major tornadoes in 14 years. I really am curious. What is it about Moore that attract Tornadoes? Is it just coincidence? Is there a geographic componet? I understand this part of the country is Tornado Alley, but one town suffering so much boggles the mind.

I really don't think anyone has the answer, and I certainly am saddened by all the child deaths, especially. Again, I have nothing against OK or Moore, but why?

[bchris02]

I wonder that myself. Moore has had two other very close calls in 2010 and 2011 with an F4 and F5 tornado. Moore and SW OKC doesn't just attract tornadoes, it attracts the largest, most violent ones as opposed to the much weaker ones that statistically hit north OKC. I wonder if there is a meteorologic explanation for it.

[steel03]

As I understand it, the southern part of the Great Plains is extremely prone to tornadoes because of its deep inland location east of the Rockies and its mostly flat land. It's more complicated than that, of course, but those are the big components.

There isn't a reason I can think of that one town in that area would be worse off than another. Very sad coincidence.

[KayneMo]

Seems like it's just pure coincidence.

[Craziaskowboi]

Limestone County, AL has been hit by four violent tornadoes in the last 40 years: An F5 and and F4 on the same day in 1974, another F5 in 2011, and an F3 in 2012. A small town called Tanner has borne the brunt of them all.

There are parcels of land in the Great Plains that have never been crossed by tornadoes, so having areas with multiple strong tornadoes crossing them in a relatively short period of time is probably just the law of averages at work.

[animatedmartian]

Not sure the specific reason, but here's a 56-year map of tornadoes with their strengths.

http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpre...s_56_years.jpg

Eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma seem to have a good (or bad) amount of stronger and more numerous tornadoes. Mississippi and Alabama are pretty gnarly hot-spots as well (the devastation in Tuscaloosa comes to mind).

I think overall, it's just pretty dangerous living in Tornado alley and it's essentially Russian roulette but with a machine gun. I'm just thankful that there are warning systems in place that give people the chance to find shelter. Many more people would be hurt or killed if there was none. But it's always unfortunate even when there's just one fatality.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Not sure the specific reason, but here's a 56-year map of tornadoes with their strengths.

http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpre...s_56_years.jpg

Eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma seem to have a good (or bad) amount of stronger and more numerous tornadoes. Mississippi and Alabama are pretty gnarly hot-spots as well (the devastation in Tuscaloosa comes to mind).

I think overall, it's just pretty dangerous living in Tornado alley and it's essentially Russian roulette but with a machine gun. I'm just thankful that there are warning systems in place that give people the chance to find shelter. Many more people would be hurt or killed if there was none. But it's always unfortunate even when there's just one fatality.

Cool map, just reinforces the thought that if you see a tornado, make sure you are not east of it.

[Natural510]

Certain towns are simply magnets for tornadoes due to geography; Xenia OH is another. Not sure why people live in such areas knowing the risk.

[Torn2pieces]

My prayers are with all those in Moore Oklahoma.

[Johnhw2]

I have a theory but without data to support it. But here goes anyway

Tornadoes move from the Southwest to North East usually, see map posted above. Thus far the strength of a tornado is based upon the damage the high winds did, rather than a direct measure of wind speed which is hard to measure from afar although progress is being made. So we know more about strong tornadoes that impact populated areas. Strong ones in vacant land do not get the focus or attention of urban striking ones.

So most tornadoes are going to hit the west side of large population centers. As they tear up structures in their path, the energy used to do so, takes energy from the storm's power source which is limited, so these structures weaken the storms from what they could have been if not for giving up the power to destroy things in its path. So they wind down or weaken as they move across urban areas.

Moore is located where nothing west of it is going to diminish tornado power until it hits Moore. Many other towns are in a similar location but through luck or location differences relative to the atmospheric conditions Moore somehow has gotten more than most. That is unexplainable in my judgement...