"Tornado Alley" is migrating east, a new study funds.
Why it matters: Tornadoes are deadly and destructive, and the thunderstorms that give rise to them are susceptible to climate change.
This includes increasing temperatures, higher humidity and alterations in wind shear.
What they did: The new peer-reviewed research, which builds upon previous work, analyzes observational weather data between 1951-2020.
What they found: The study demonstrates that more heavily populated areas in the Midwest and Southeast are already seeing more tornadoes, and that the Plains' status as the country's tornado capital is false.
The researchers also found a transition away from warm season tornadoes, and toward the cold season.
"All of the increase in F/EF1+ tornadoes in the eastern U.S. is due to an increase in cold season tornadoes," the study states — while summer tornadoes declined by 37%.
Between the lines: While the researchers did not conduct an attribution analysis into whether climate change is behind these shifts, they note that the findings are consistent with climate change projections.
