Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin, with particularly severe
damage in New Jersey and New York. Its storm surge hit New York City,
flooding streets, tunnels, and subway lines and cutting power in and around
the city.Tornadoes
Tornadoes are swirling masses of air with wind speeds close to 300 miles per
hour (485 kph). Like hurricanes, the center of the tornado is an area of low
pressure. In the United States, tornadoes are frequent from April through July
and occur in the center of the United States in an area known as “Tornado
Alley.” Due to advances in weather forecasting, modeling, and warning systems,
the death rate due to tornadoes has decreased significantly.
Figure 2.10 Average number of tornadoes per yearTornadoes vs. Cyclones
While both tornadoes and tropical cyclones are spinning, turbulent vortices of
wind, they have little in common. Tornadoes have diameters on the scale of
hundreds of meters and are produced from a single convective storm, such as a