ROANOKE, Va. – Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Beyond The Forecast!
Tornado Alley is infamously known for well...tornadoes. In recent days, it has unfortunately lived up to its name.
A pair of storm systems resulted in more than 100 reports of tornadoes, most of which were in Nebraska and Oklahoma.
What makes this part of the country so prone to tornadoes, though?
It isn’t just that there’s flat land.
In fact, a lot of it has to do with the Rockies.
As hot, dry air descends from the Rockies, it clashes with warm, moist air that’s being pulled in from the Gulf. This sets up a volatile atmospheric boundary called a dry line.
Storms initiate on this dry line, and they often spin rapidly.
In a case like last Friday, there was a large amount of instability (thunderstorm fuel) that allowed these storms to reach their fullest potential.
Surface temperatures were in the 70s, while the air just 20,000 feet above was around 4° below zero.
On average, Tornado Alley sees hundreds of tornadoes per year.
May and June tend to be very active months, starting with the Southern Plains and then ending in the Northern Plains.
We hope, for their sake, that things will calm down soon.
Immediately, there is another threat of severe thunderstorms in Tornado Alley. This is the outlook through Wednesday, May 1.
That same system brings an increased chance of showers and storms (not necessarily severe) to our area this weekend.
You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, the Lynchburg area, the New River Valley or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!
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