The tornado season started in a very violent way in the United States, with a record recorded in March, and an already very turbulent beginning of April. This is the strongest start to the tornado season on record.
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[EN VIDÉO] A powerful tornado recreated by computer Concerned by the hundreds of tornadoes that plague the central United States each year, researchers there are trying to better understand how these devastating monsters form. Scientists have reconstructed with a supercomputer the “El Reno” tornado, one of the most powerful ever observed, which hit Oklahoma on May 24, 2011. It destroyed everything in its path over more than 100 km for nearly two hours… Thanks With this simulation, we better identify the phenomena at work.
The season of thunderstorms and tornadoes officially start in February, ending in June, peaking in May. With at least 210 tornadoes confirmed during the month of March, the United States recorded a new record, surpassing that of March 2017 with 192 tornadoes: in March, the average is around 80 tornadoes since records began in 1950. However, out of 210 tornadoes recorded in March 2022, majority in Texas, 176 are whirlwinds low intensity (rated EF0 to EF1).
The most notable event remains the tornado in Des Moines, Iowa on March 5: classified as EF4 with winds between 267 and 322 km/h, it traveled more than 100 kilometers and caused the death of six people.
EF4 tornado in Des Moines, Iowa on March 5, 2022. © Texas Storm Chaser
The La Niña phenomenon probably to blame
Multiple settings weather report played in favor of such a violent start to the season: the higher than normal temperature in the Gulf of Mexico which brought the heat and humidity necessary for the formation of thunderstorms, and the position of the jet stream which pushed this air tropical to the southern United States, earlier in the season than usual. The persistence of La Niña climate phenomenon is also known to contribute to more tornadoes In early spring. But are there really more tornadoes than in the past? Nothing is certain, the Storm Prediction Center specifies that the survey tools are much more efficient than before and make it possible to better identify tornadoes, and to confirm the observations of the inhabitants. The month of April seems to be following the same trend for the moment, with already around thirty tornadoes confirmed between April 4 and 6.
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