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Deadly forces
Mondays tornado in Oklahoma was not unique to the area. Oklahoma lies in tornado alley the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent.

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DEADLIEST U.S. TORNADOES
Date Mar. 18, 1925 May 6, 1840 May 27, 1896 Apr. 5, 1936 Apr. 6, 1936 Class F5 N/A F4 F5 F4 State Deaths Missouri, Illinois, Indiana 695 Louisiana, Mississippi 317 Missouri, Illinois 255 Mississippi Georgia 216 203

Tornadoes cause an average of

Wash.

Mont.

Average number of tornadoes per year, by state. Atmospheric conditions combining to create tornado alley.

70 fatalities and 1,500 injuries

in the U.S. each year.
Bethany Will Rogers Park
40

10

N.D.

Maine

Ore.

Idaho

COLD DRY AIR

Wyo.

32

Minn.

45

N.H. Vt.

S.D.

Calif.

11

12

36

Wis.

Nev.

TORNADO Iowa ALLEY 51 Neb.

57
Mo.

24

N.Y. Mich.

1 1 1 1

10

16

Mass. R.I. N.J. Conn.

Pa. Ohio

JET STREAM 3
8km 5 miles

Utah

Colo.

54

Ill.

16

Ind.

53

Kan.

22

19

W.Va.

96

Ariz.
Midwest City
35 40

45

Ky.

Va.

21

18

Del. Md. D.C.

N.M.

O K L A H O M A C I T Y
Ma y 20, 2.56pm: Category May 1999: Category 44 tornado touches down with tornado claims 48 lives. winds of up to 320km/h. On ground for 40 minutes, striking town of Newcastle and suburb of Moore
240

11

Okla.

Tenn. Ark.

N.C.

1 1

62

39

26

31

S.C. Ga.

Moore Moore Medical MedicalCentre Centre

Debris Debris eld eld

WARM DRY AIR

Miss.

Texas

43

Ala.

27

44

30

155

La.

Tuttle Bridge Creek

44

Newcastle Newcastle

Moore Moore Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary Schools destroyed Plaza Towers and

WARM MOIST AIR

37

Fla.

66

Briarwood Elementary Norman Schools destroyed

35

May 20: up to 320 k.p.h. On the ground for 40 mins., it travelled 65 km, striking a path 3-km wide through Newcastle and suburb of Moore.

May 1999: Category 4 Category 4 tornado; winds Tornado claims 48 lives Blanchard

Most tornadoes are related to the strength of a thunderstorm, and thunderstorms normally gain most of their energy from solar heating and latent heat released by the condensation of water vapour. Therefore, most tornadoes occur in the afternoon and evening hours.

TORNADO TIMING

NUMBER OF TORNADOES BY YEAR IN THE U.S.

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 1950 55 60 65 70 75

1800 1600

TIME OF OCCURRENCE, U.S.

0.18 0.14 0.1 0.06 0.02 22-23 20-21 18-19 16-17 14-15 12-13 10-11 8-9 6-7 4-5 2-3 0-1

AVERAGE NUMBER OF TORNADOES PER MONTH

300 250 200 150 100 50 J F M A M J J A S O N D

80

85

90

95 2000

05

10

SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1; QMI AGENCY