InIn WhatWhat MonthsMonths DoDo TheThe MostMost TornadoesTornadoes OccurOccur????

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Hypothesis• I think that the most tornadoes will

happen in the fall or autumn months because it is very dry and usually warm, the perfect place for a tornado.

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Plan• My plan is to record all of the

tornado data for the years and months of 2008-2010 thanks to http://spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/newm.html then I will compare my hypothesis with my data to find out if I was correct

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Where do Tornadoes Occur?The most (and usually most severe)

tornadoes occur in a upside -down“L” shape containing the states: Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. This arrangement of states is called “Tornado Alley.”

2008-2010 U.S. Tornado Averages

Months

Tornadoes

2008-2010 U.S. Tornado Monthly % Averages

2008-2010 U.S. Tornado Analysis

• 58% of all tornadoes happen in April-June

• The least amount of tornadoes happened in November, accounting for only 2%

• On average, there are 458 tornadoes a year.

• Based on this data, the busiest month for tornado activity is May

Mean, Median, and Mode of the Tornado Data

• Mean:114.6 (the mean shows what the average tornado count is for 2008-2010)

• Median: 68.5 (the median shows the median number of tornados. In this case there was 65 and 72 so I found the number in the middle)

• Mode: All of the numbers are the mode. (the mode is the # that occurs most often. No 2 #s were the same, so all of the numbers were the mode)

The answer to my question and more questions

• Most of all tornadoes happen in the spring not the fall! My hypothesis was incorrect!

• I now want to know why tornadoes have a big spike in growth in the months April, May, and June

• I also want to know why tornado alley has the most tornadoes

• Last but not least, I want to know what state(s) produced most of the tornadoes in the months April-June.

Fun Facts• Animals and pickup trucks can fly in

tornadoes.• Tornadoes are rated on a scale called

the Fujita scale, the rating is F1-F5. F5 being the worst.

• Hurricanes can spawn (make) tornadoes• If you were to live permanently in the middle

of tornado alley, statistically speaking you would most likely have to wait 1400 years before being struck by a tornado!

Resources• Google.com• http://spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/mon

thly/newm.html• Weather.com• http://www.sky-fire.tv/index.cgi/

tornadoes.html#top

THE END!