Discovery News reports:
Extreme tornado outbreaks are becoming more commonplace, according to a recent study by researchers at Columbia University.
Image credit: Justin1569 at en.wikipedia
“Scientists aren’t sure why, but tornado outbreaks — large-scale weather events that last for one to three days and span across big regions — seem to be getting bigger, with more twisters on average.
Worse yet, we’re also seeing increased changes of having extreme outbreaks — such as the April 25-28, 2011 “Super Outbreak” that generated 305 tornadoes over an area stretching from New York to Texas, and included three massive tornadoes that rated F5, the highest category on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. That catastrophe killed nearly 350 people and caused an estimated $11 billion in property damage.
Those scary findings are in an study published recently in Nature Communications, in which Columbia University researchers looked at data going back to 1954.
The researchers found that the average number of tornadoes in an outbreak has increased by 50 percent, from 10 to 15. If there’s any good news, it’s that the number of tornadoes rated F1 and higher on the Fujita — the ones capable of causing substantial property damage — isn’t rising.”
To read more on the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org
