WHY STORM CHASERS ARE WATCHING CHANGES IN TORNADO ALLEY CLOSELY

Researchers report we may see more clustered tornado events in the future, more tornadoes occurring in a single outbreak, and the location of Tornado Alley may also be shifting. I, like you guys, chase storms for weeks at a time 'Tornado Alley' on the move as more twisters appear in eastern states Tornado Alley may need to be re-defined given the tornado patterns observed in recent years. Jaclyn Whittal explores what this means. Share Pause Unmute Captions Fullscreen Close Tornado Alley: The name brings to mind massive vortexes spinning across golden fields beneath coal grey skies. Storm chasers flock to the central plains of the U.S. every year to catch a glimpse of just one of more than 1,200 tornadoes that can happen on average in this part of the world each year. But they may have to change where they’re heading in the future as new evidence suggests that climate change is affecting the characteristics of Tornado Alley. Researchers say it’s possible that we may see more clustered tornado events in the future, more tornadoes occurring in one single outbreak, and the location of Tornado Alley may also be shifting. A tornado tears across the Oklahoma landscape in 2019. (Mark Robinson A tornado tears across the Oklahoma landscape in 2019. (Mark Robinson) There is new research by IOP Science, an environmental research and communications publisher, which suggests that Tornado Alley could be shifting east and there could be changes to the number of tornadoes recorded on a given day within the traditional season. The Weather Network’s Mark Robinson and myself talked to Dr. Victor Gensini, an assistant professor of Geographic and Atmospheric Sciences at Northern Illinois University, about this subject for an episode of Storm Hunters.