Tornadoes Activity

Home , Tornado Alley

Tornadoes in the United States 1954 - 1994 Name______Class______DIRECTIONS: 1. Write the number of tornadoes inside each state on the map below. 2. As a class, decide on categories of # of Tornadoes. Make a key. 3. Color each state according to your key, using RED for the highest Category. Tornadoes per State 1954 - 1994 http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/tornadoes/st-trank.html State # of Tornadoes State # of Tornadoes ALABAMA 886 MONTANA 238 ALASKA 1 NEBRASKA 1673 ARIZONA 155 NEVADA 48 ARKANSAS 854 NEW HAMPSHIRE 72 CALIFORNIA 214 NEW JERSEY 112 COLORADO 1113 NEW MEXICO 390 CONNECTICUT 61 NEW YORK 249 DELAWARE 52 NORTH CAROLINA 590 FLORIDA 2009 NORTH DAKOTA 799 GEORGIA 888 OHIO 648 HAWAII 28 OKLAHOMA 2300 IDAHO 115 OREGON 44 ILLINOIS 1137 PENNSYLVANIA 451 INDIANA 886 RHODE ISLAND 8 IOWA 1374 SOUTH CAROLINA 423 KANSAS 2110 SOUTH DAKOTA 1139 KENTUCKY 373 TENNESSEE 502 LOUISIANA 1086 TEXAS 5490 MAINE 82 UTAH 76 MARYLAND 145 VERMONT 32 MASSACHUSETTS 134 VIRGINIA 279 MICHIGAN 712 WASHINGTON 55 MINNESOTA 832 WEST VIRGINIA 83 MISSISSIPPI 1039 WISCONSIN 844 MISSOURI 1166 WYOMING 434

1. Which state(s) had the highest number of tornadoes during this time period?

2. Which state had the lowest number of tornadoes during this time period?

3. What states would you consider to be part of what is called, “Tornado Alley?”

4. Is our state part of Tornado Alley? ______

5. Observe the following Map. How is your answer to Question #3 similar to this map?

Different from this map?

6. Which states(s) had more tornadoes than you might expect?

Which had fewer?

7. List at least 3 safety tips for surviving a tornado in your state:

1. Run the first and third page as front/back. Run the maps on a separate page. This will make it easier for the students to transfer the tornado data from the table to the map. 2. When the students are just about done with recording the tornado data in each state, start them talking about how to group the numbers into manageable groups for coloring. You want to make the Tornado Alley states all Red. Since those are basically these states in the narrowest of definitions: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Set Red Category as 1500 - 5500. Then you have an Orange Category of 1100 - 1400, a Yellow Category of 600 - 999, a Green Category of 300 - 599, Blue Category of 100 - 299 and the rest are left White.

© Copyright 2009 M. J. Krech. All rights reserved. Reproduction for educational purposes is encouraged. 3. Alabama and Florida are interesting anomalies. They are NOT considered part of Tornado Alley. Put some of your more interested students to work on this. Basically it has to do with the severity of the Tornadoes and the number of people killed and/or injured which is somewhat dependent on population per square mile.