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United States Tornado Touchdown Points 1950-2008 |
What this map layer shows:
Places where tornadoes
have touched down in the United States. |
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Background Information |
Sample Map
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with
both the ground and with the base of a powerful thunderstorm. Often
a funnel-shaped cloud of condensation indicates the presence of a tornado,
but a tornado can also exist without a visible funnel. In an average
year, tornadoes cause 80 deaths and millions of dollars of damage in
the United States.
The Storm Prediction
Center (SPC), one of the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction, studies severe and dangerous weather, including
heavy rain and snow, fire weather events, thunderstorms, and tornadoes.
The SPC uses advanced technology to provide tornado forecasts, watches,
and warnings for the conterminous United States, as well as other tornado
information used by many groups, such as weather forecasters, emergency
managers, and the aviation industry. As part of their research, the
SPC compiles tornado statistics from data in the Tornado/Severe
Thunderstorm Database and from National
Weather Service storm data. This map layer
was produced by the National Atlas of the United States® from
the SPC Tornado
Statistics file.
The United States Tornado Touchdown Points 1950-2008 map layer includes
tornado touchdown points for tornadoes that occurred in the United
States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Descriptive information
includes the latitude and longitude of the touchdown and lift-off points,
the number of fatalities or injuries, an estimate of damage costs,
and the classification of the storm on the Fujita
Tornado Damage Scale.
For additional information on tornadoes, see the SPC Tornado
FAQ page
and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency Tornado Safety Tips brochure.
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