Recent Tornadoes Highlight Vast Strike Zone
Last week's storms are typical for this time of year in the United States.
When Americans imagine tornadoes, many tend to think of them churning through plains states like Kansas or Oklahoma. But destructive twisters strike hard in a very broad area of the eastern United States.
The tornadoes that have left at least 31 dead over the past two days—wreaking havoc in Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and elsewhere—are not extraordinary in terms of their strength, location, or numbers.
"Anywhere east of the Rockies can get tornadoes," says Harold Brooks, a senior research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Severe Storm Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma.
He said the recent days were "nothing outlandish" in weather terms. "They have been ordinary big days."
Brooks estimates that the tornadoes that hit Sunday are
