It certainly seems that major weather events are getting more and more prevalent lately, doesn't it? I mean, we shouldn't be surprised about encountering hurricanes anywhere from June through November, but the devastation from those, plus the numerous floods we've experienced sure seems more drastic than it used to be.

And now, a new study has been released that says Louisiana is third in the nation for tornadoes per square mile. Looks like we are now right smack in the middle of Tornado Alley, But in the south, it's called Dixie Alley.

The newly released study used information from 2000-2019, and it says the frequency that our state is experiencing devastating tornadoes has increased enough to bump us up considerably. The deadly storms escalated enough between 2017-2019 to show that we had at least 60 EF1 or above tornadoes reported. And we've all seen the devastating effects of those right here in Acadiana. The worst year seems to have been 2019, when Louisiana reported over $87.4 million in property damage.

According to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, via the Opelousas Daily World, "prior to 2017, Louisiana only registered more than 60 tornadoes twice, recording 69 in 1992 and 60 in 1990." That was from data collected from 1950-2019. And the recent study states that it is not clear whether the tornadoes have actually increased, or just that the reporting of them has gone up due to improved weather observation technology. And let's face it, we can now record severe weather events on cell phones. Either way, it's not really a list that the Bayou State wants to be on in 2021. Check out more details from the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

 

 

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