The New Tornado Alley Part 1

The most recent round of deadly storms in Macon, Sumner and Trousdale Counties have some people asking why it seems like we're having more strong storms in middle Tennessee than we used to.

In this case, perception is reality. Some of the region's top climate experts believe there's been a shift in the weather pattern and that shift is bring our area stronger and more frequent tornadoes.

Rick Shanklin, a scientist with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, has been studying where and when tornadoes hit in our region. He says a region that includes middle and west Tennessee and west Kentucky is included in an an area that has seen more E F 4 tornadoes than any other region in the country over the past 10-years.

What forecasters don't know is whether this shift is temporary or permanent. This type of weather research has only been going on for about 50-years.

While the traditional tornado alley from South Dakota southward through the great plains to North Texas still has more tornadoes, the National Weather Service says the ones here are stronger and more deadly.

Scott Couch The New Tornado Alley Part 1