Tornado Question

Factual Questions
1

I’ve lived not far from the coast of California most of my life, so tornadoes certainly weren’t a common occurrence there, although they were known to occasionally occur in the central part of the state.

I now live in Northwestern Montana, not far from Glacier National Park in the Rocky Mountains. Given the recent tornado activity in Billings, Montana, which is 430 miles to the southeast of us, my wife asked whether we could ever experience a tornado where we live. I said that while you can never rule out a freak weather occurrence, tornadoes are almost unheard of in mountainous areas.

So am I right? Do you really need an open flat area in order to spawn tornadoes or am I just making stuff up as usual?

We definitely get nasty summer thunderstorms here that can reek their own special kind of havoc, like starting forest fires, but that’s nothing like the violence of a full-blown tornado.

2

Judging from this map, you’re safer than I am.

3

A tornado can occur almost anywhere. Just happens the conditions favorable to forming a tornado are much more common in the plains.

I’d suspect where you are a tornado would be a true freak occurrence though. Not impossible but not something to worry about either.

4

Thanks! I remember reading somewhere that the conditions that spawn tornadoes usually inlcude a warm humid mass of air slamming into a cooler mass of air. From the map it looks like the entire western US is protected from tornadoes for the most part.

I wonder if that’s at least partially a result of a general lack of humidity…

5

Sometimes they do occur in weird places. In the 70’s one formed over the Columbia river and touched down just past our house in Vancouver Wa., destroyed houses and a school a few blocks away.