# God Hates Moore: why tornadoes hit the same place **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478 "2015-04-01T03:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/1 "2015-04-01T03:50:27Z")
I am from Oklahoma City, a suburb of which gets hit by tornadoes pretty much every time the metro area has one. Moore, Oklahoma. Moore was hit in 1999, 2003, 2013, and 2015–all within miles of each others pathways. The '99 storm produced the record-leading tornado strength ever. People wonder what causes the same area to be a magnet for tornadoes. I have heard earth magnetics all the way up to geographical anomalies (Moore is between two rivers, they say. So are tons of other places, though). It seems to me the storms have to form some distance away from Moore to track in that direction and gain appropriate strength to tornado by the time it hits Moore. So if it’s a geographical thing, it has to be some distance out west southwest of Moore. Is that even possible, tho? What else might cause so many tornadoes to form in a specific place? ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/2 "2015-04-01T04:48:45Z")
Are there a lot of trailer parks there? ---
**Author:** ![jezzaOZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/3 "2015-04-01T05:11:52Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > What else might cause so many tornadoes to form in a specific place? Ignoring the usual observation of clusters of random effects as significant, it’s most likely the pattern of farmland and forest in the near vicinity. They have different thermal properties particularly in the absorption of heat from sunlight. Rising thermal columns which normally make clouds may well affect the formation of tornadoes - which I understand are the product of strong thermal shear between two overlaid air-masses. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/4 "2015-04-01T05:14:50Z")
Damon Lane had that Q on the newscast the other day. KOCO-TV 5 Answer: Random chance. Seems like a very specific pattern, but the sample size is still small, considering how short a time this state has been significantly inhabited. I still wouldn’t buy a house on NW 12th, tho ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/5 "2015-04-01T05:18:48Z")
Look at tonight. I had up to 70mph wind gusts near Lake Hefner for a few minutes. MWC and Moore, 85mph sustained for quite some time. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/6 "2015-04-01T05:31:06Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Look at tonight. I had up to 70mph wind gusts near Lake Hefner for a few minutes. MWC and Moore, 85mph sustained for quite some time. Go figure. Yep. Got real dang windy for a time. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/7 "2015-04-01T05:36:14Z")
Some restaurant keeps serving gays there. God’s wrath and all that. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/8 "2015-04-01T12:38:55Z")
“Areas where landscape shifts from urban to rural or forest to farmland may have a higher likelihood of severe weather and tornado touchdowns, a Purdue University study says.” Here’s the [link](http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/landscape-transition-zones-may-influence-where-tornadoes-strike.html) to the rest of the article. So, yes, it’s certainly true that you might find bogus conclusions from small sample sizes but the facts seem to support the hypothesis that there actually are certain geographical areas which are more likely to get hit repeatedly than others. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/9 "2015-04-01T13:44:35Z")
Taking the whole state view, it seems that I-44 is a preferred storm track. Other times, it seems I-35 is a boundary between severe and not. Confirmation bias, I know… ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/10 "2015-04-01T13:45:25Z")
I am about 30-45 minutes drive SW of Moore, and we had some pretty gusty (and moderate sustained wind) for an hour or two with lots of rain. Narrowly missed the really bad stuff - but a few days ago had ~golf-ball sized hail and smaller for around 10 minutes while tornado hit that area of Moore. It seems like many of the rotating cells that head towards Moore/OKC start their power-up phase right around here (observation bias, most likely), but anytime a stormfront starts brewing in afternoon/evening hours, most folks I know have the TV on watching carefully and being ready to hit the shelters We get to see some really unique looking cloud formations/movement this time of year, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/11 "2015-04-01T13:57:57Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Taking the whole state view, it seems that I-44 is a preferred storm track. Other times, it seems I-35 is a boundary between severe and not. Confirmation bias, I know… Exactly! I’m not far from I-44, close to Chickasha area (which is on I-44) and lots of folks around here have same view, LOL. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/12 "2015-04-01T15:14:49Z")
Perhaps Moore should change its name to Limbaugh, or Coulter… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/13 "2015-04-01T21:47:45Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > “Areas where landscape shifts from urban to rural or forest to farmland may have a higher likelihood of severe weather and tornado touchdowns, a Purdue University study says.” > > Here’s the [link](http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/landscape-transition-zones-may-influence-where-tornadoes-strike.html) to the rest of the article. > > So, yes, it’s certainly true that you might find bogus conclusions from small sample sizes but the facts seem to support the hypothesis that there actually are certain geographical areas which are more likely to get hit repeatedly than others. this is what i was hoping someone would post, something along these lines. blind luck and coincidence is one thing, but anyone from around here has to start thinking there must be some logical explanation. it’s not just the tornadoes that have hit Moore–there are tons of funnels and near misses that occur there as well. it just seems to be an honest hotspot. surely there’s a reason. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-hates-moore-why-tornadoes-hit-the-same-place/716478/14 "2015-04-01T21:53:20Z")
It’s in a high tornado area. Statistically, some place in tornado alley is going to get hit a lot. And add to that, yeah, there may be some factors that make it more likely that tornadoes will form there (though those factors are probably also present in some places that haven’t gotten hit as frequently).