What is the one major reason why Europe has far fewer tornados than the United States?

xfacilitatorx

Topography and Relation to the equator. There occurs not a lot of tornados in the northern part of the country (40 lattitude) just as most of Europe is above this cartographic boundry. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/alley.html&edu=high http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/alley.html&edu=high Apr 06 06, 10:10 AM

woodardr

Weather patterns and geography allow for warm and cold air to come in contact with each other more in the US (especially across the plains) than Europe. It's the instability of the atmosphere where air masses of different temperature come together that generate the storms that then generate strong tornadoes. With nothing stopping cold air from the Arctic or warm air from the Gulf of Mexico area, this happens a lot in the states. There's the whole Alps/Pyrenees/Carpatian ridges that minimise the mixing in Europe, for instance. The other thing that most folks don't realize is Europe is much further north than the US, so it's actually harder for truly warm systems to get onto the main european landmass. That's the basics of the answer. Rob Apr 06 06, 10:10 AM

mochyn

well put rob, the Alps was the answer I was looking for Apr 06 06, 11:01 AM

xfacilitatorx

Alps??? What about the Rockies and the Appalachians it is these geographic footprints that perpetuates tornados in the USA. Apr 06 06, 11:31 AM

woodardr

Here in the US, the cold and hot air masses that join to make strong tornadoes *typically* don't have to cross the Rockies - The cold air comes down from Canada across the plains, and the warm air comes from the Gulf Of Mexico. You will notice that the Appalachian Mountains do tend to limit tornado development, as most of the major tornadoes stay west of this range. I'm not saying that this is the only reason for development (I'm here in SW Washington State, and we get 1-2 weak tornadoes a year around here), just that the way the geography works allows for more frequent and stronger development in the "American Heartland" Apr 06 06, 7:22 PM

xfacilitatorx

Exactly! In the 'bowl' created by the natural borders of both mountain ranges. Yes we know about thermals and conflicting fronts and all that, I was just stating that the mountain ranges certainly create the perfect area for this to occur. Apr 06 06, 10:26 PM