twisters in the Midwest? Think again. Tornadoes in the South develop
faster, out of smaller storms, and are far more difficult to detect,
Greneker says. Southeastern tornadoes usually are shrouded in rain,
making them harder to spot.

While traditional radar is still the best bet to gauge thunderstorms
and develop warning information, Greneker and Trostel are looking at
other ways - like cloud-to-cloud lightning strikes and sound wave
emission - to detect potential tornado activity.

They've been at it since early 1999, after then-Gov. Zell Miller set
aside a pot of money in the wake of the killer storms in Hall County
and Dunwoody for storm research

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...torm_0727.html

I suppose it's obvious really, once you have been shown, that it isn't
just the infrastructure of a region that promotes or prohibits storm-
chasing.

I wonder how many tornadoes strike that are never seen or realised as
such.