Smart_faq

What are my chances of seeing a tornado on your tours?

There are no guarantees of seeing a tornado on any one tour but we will make our best efforts to try to achieve that goal for you. We have the knowledge, experience and equipment to make it happen. Even if you do not see a tornado, chances are very good that you will at least see some very unique storm structure and severe storms. Your chance of seeing a tornado largely depends on two factors: (1) the length of your tour and (2) the type of large-scale weather pattern that is in place during your particular tour, particularly during the early tours. Some patterns are very favorable for severe storms and tornadoes over the Plains States and Midwest (e.g., a large upper level “trough” of low pressure in the Western United States with a corresponding upper level “ridge” of high pressure in the Eastern U.S.) and some patterns are not (e.g., a significant upper level trough in the Eastern U.S. and an amplified upper level ridge in the west). It is impossible to accurately forecast more than a few days in advance which atmospheric pattern will be in place for your particular tour. There can be minor variations in these patterns that may allow part of the tour to see increased or decreased activity. To help improve your odds of seeing a tornado we picked our entire range of tour dates to correspond to the broad climatological peak of the U.S. tornado season. Our calculations show that on a statistical average, roughly the same number of tornado days (days on which significant tornadoes occur in the Midwest or Plains) occur each tour period.