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Photo credit: Michael Raphael/FEMA

Although there were more twisters seen by mid-April of this year than ever before, after May of 2012, these numbers dropped to a historic low. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, so far this year the United States has had only 88 tornadoes, as compared to the 1,691 seen last year. Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center stated that, “We are approaching a theoretical minimum in the annual tornado count for the modern era.” According to USA today, the current year with the fewest tornadoes recorded was in 1987 when the U.S had 1,013 tornadoes; but it looks like that is about to change.
 

With only a handful of weeks left in 2012, it is highly unlikely that an event would occur to increase the amount of tornadoes in the U.S. seen this year. So why have we not seen many tornadoes this year? Bob Henson, a meteorologist for the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research stated that the reason for this decrease in tornadoes is due to the drought that rapt much of the United States. Henson also noted that, “Part of the reason for the drought — and hence the lack of tornado-producing storms — was the presence of a high-pressure "heat dome over much of the country." It will be interesting to see how the drought affects next year’s presence of tornadoes in the United States as well.

For more information on this story, visit:

 

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