Popular Science: The 2022 Tornado Season is Going to be a Doozy

By Pam Knox

In the Southeast, we get severe weather every month of the year, but the busiest season is spring, with a secondary maximum in late fall. This year, the La Nina has pushed the main jet stream to the north into the Ohio River Valley, which leaves the Southeast in an increased chance for warm moist air to flow in from the Gulf of Mexico and fuel extra severe weather. We have already seen several days this year with significant amounts of severe weather, and more is expected later this week. Popular Mechanics posted a story recently about forecasts that 2022 is going to be another unusually active year for the Southeast.

Note that in the story it talks about the shift in the “Tornado Alley” to the Southeast over time. It’s important to keep in mind that while the Southeast is seeing more tornadoes in recent years and the traditional area called the “Tornado Alley” in Oklahoma and Kansas is experiencing fewer tornadoes than in the past, they still get a lot more than we do, so it will take a lot for the Southeast to take over as the new “Tornado Alley”.