Tornado Alley

weather · storms · geography · science

Where tornadoes form. Tornado Alley stretches across parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska in the central United States. This region gets more tornadoes than anywhere else in the world because warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico crashes into cold, dry air from Canada, creating the perfect conditions for spinning storms.

The Great Plains belt. Scientists call the worst tornado zone the Great Plains tornado belt. Storm chasers have been tracking and studying this area for many decades to understand how these dangerous storms form and behave.

Studied since 1952. The term Tornado Alley was first used in 1952 when researchers started a special project to study severe weather in this region. Scientists wanted to learn why tornadoes happened so often in these particular states.

Peak storm seasons. Tornado Alley has certain times of year when tornadoes are most common. Experts have mapped out where and when tornado activity is strongest, which helps people prepare and stay safe.