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...A tornado that tore through the Houston area on Tuesday was the kind of early-season storm that scientists say has been occurring with increasing regularity -- a sign that patterns of severe weather are shifting....
The spate of reported tornadoes adds to changes that experts have been observing in recent years -- specifically, that where and when tornadoes occur has begun to shift.
Historically, tornadoes were most likely to strike within a column of the central U.S. that was nicknamed "Tornado Alley." The area includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. In recent years, however, researchers noticed that fewer tornadoes were touching down in the Great Plains and that more were hitting the Southeast.
Tornado Alley's changing borders can have deadly consequences, said Victor Gensini, an associate professor in the department of earth, atmosphere and environment at Northern Illinois University, who published key research on the topic in 2018 and has studied the shift extensively.
"The No. 1 thing is that we have greater population density in the Mid-South," Gensini said. "There are basically more targets to hit on the dartboard."
The differing landscapes are also a factor in a storm's destructiveness. In areas with tightly packed cities, lots of trees and less open space, for example, a tornado can cause more catastrophic damage.
There are also more vulnerable communities across the Southeast, particularly among people who live in mobile homes, Gensini said.
"Half of all tornado fatalities happen in mobile homes," he said. "If you're living in a mobile home during a tornado warning, it's already too late. That's a major vulnerability."...
