Results tagged “weather” from 60 Second Science

We’re still deep in the heart of winter, but tornado season is right around the corner. (You can check out interesting tornado factoids at the NOAA site, here. ) If you live in the Southeast, look out.

A study from the December issue of “Weather and Forecasting,” published by the American Meteorological Society, finds that the deadliest twisters touch down a little closer to Dixie.

Tornado Alley, which stretches from Texas through the Dakotas, still gets the most tornadoes in a given year. But Walker Ashley, a meteorologist at Northern Illinois University, found that the most fatalities occur in a swath further south.

From the press release:

“The country’s most vulnerable region for tornado-related fatalities and killer tornado events basically stretches from Little Rock to Memphis to Tupelo to Birmingham,” Ashley said.

Continue reading 'A twist on Tornado Alley' >

If all goes according to plan, this winter will take the heat as the warmest winter on record.

Thus far this year, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have felt temperatures 1.3 degrees above the norm. Experts predict that the trend will continue and break 2005's warm winter record.

Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere is only in its ninth-warmest winter.

Back in the U.S., temperatures in December through February are expected to be 4 percent hotter than the 30-year average. During the last 10 years, winters have been more mild across the country. Northern states have been particularly mild.

With the heat comes drought. Experts predict the U.S. will see below-average rainfall in the Southeast and Southwest.

Continue reading 'Your winter forecast: Hot, hot, hot' >