In article , "TQ" ToweringQs AT
adelphia.net says...
"H. E. Taylor" wrote in message
...
Greetings,
When does the tornado season in the States usually begin?
curious
-het


From http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/#Climatology...

"What is tornado season? Tornado season usually means the peak period for
historical tornado reports in an area, when averaged over the history of
reports. There is a general northward shift in "tornado season" in the U.S.
from late winter through mid summer. The peak period for tornadoes in the
southern plains, for example, is during May into early June. On the Gulf
coast, it is earlier during the spring; in the northern plains and upper
Midwest, it is June or July. Remember: tornadoes can happen any time of year
if the conditions are right! If you want to know the tornado peak periods
for your area, Harold Brooks of NSSL has prepared numerous tornado
probability graphics, which include distribution during the year."

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/hazard/hazardmap.html

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/hazgraph3.pl


The fundamental problem is in defining "start" of the season at any
location. Defining the midpoint is easy, but start is a more nebulous
concept. There aren't any artificial dates, such as the 1 June for the
hurricane season, and the areas of threat move around during the year.

Harold
--
Harold Brooks
Head, Mesoscale Applications Group
NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory