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We need your help! (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/2011_tornado_information.html

Bergman, J. (2016, April 29). What is "Tornado Alley"? Retrieved from https://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/alley.html

Caught in Tornado Alley. (2016, March 11). Retrieved from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/u/kdpkrVDqVLqgvmLJ_zuKjo-85i5ANqTGaUuLf0aPOC_Z5hqOkwGRKg/

Shepherd, M. (2017, April 04). I Wanted To Know Why A Storm Chaser Would Drive Into A Tornado - So I Asked Him. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2017/04/03/i-wanted-to-know-why-a-storm-chaser-would-drive-into-a-tornado-so-i-asked-him/#5a569a216037

Luchetti, N. (2014, March 28). Blogging on EARTH: Behind the scenes with a storm chaser (part 2). Retrieved from https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/blogging-earth-behind-scenes-storm-chaser-part-2

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On May 22nd, 2011, the city of Joplin, Missouri was nearly entirely obliterated by the a unique late-May tornado outbreak. In the evening of the 22nd, the tornado initially touched down in the south west end of the city and began to damage at EF0 levels. This storm was one of the most unique to ever happen because it grew in intensity very rapidly and multiple off vortexes touched down surrounding the primary cylinder. The cell grew and formed into a "wedge" tornado, which is an informal term used by stormchasers to describe a tornado that is wider at the surface then the distance from surface to ambient cloud base. The base was recorded to be 1.6 km wide and lasted 38 minutes. 161 people died, 1,150 people were injured and $2.8 billion in damage was done to the city and surrounding areas.

Below is a picture of the St. John's Regional Medical Center in the aftermath of the destruction. This region of the city suffer EF4 and EF5 level damage as 200 mph winds ripped through buildings.

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Supercells are create the vertical vortexs in the same way lesser tornadoes are created. An invisible horizontal vortex is created within the storm cell by wind shear, which is a wind gradient in a relatively short distance. Wind shear is this case creates wind speed changes while moving the cell laterally. As the cell moves, up drafts shoot up into the storm front the cold dry mass under cutting the warm moist air mass. The upward draft begins to mix with the wind shear until the both combine to create an even stronger vertical updraft that touches down to the surface as a tornado.

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Supercells are one of four types of rotating thunderstorm class storms. As shown in the surrounding pictures, these storms are beyond magnificent, but that beautify comes with the greatest destructive potential of tornado storms. The deadliest tornadoes ever recorded in history have all been supercells ranking to an F5 or EF5, which is a storm intensity scale based on damaging capabilities of storms. EF5's exceed wind speeds of 320 km/h, can be miles wide, and last for long periods of time for the type of event.

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What are they?

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Tornadoes are the results of two large air masses meeting: one cold dry mass meeting a warm moist mass. The result is a highly unstable atmospheric environment. Changes in wind speed create horizontal wind vortexes in the lower atmosphere. Within these vortexes, rising air tilts the spinning air from horizontal to vertical and tornadoes begin to reach down to the surface.

Many scientists say that there is much more going on then a cold dry mass meeting a warm moist one, but there are very simple clues which indicate that a tornado may be on its way. These signs are the loud roaring, like that of many freight trains, the onset of a massive, dark, wall cloud, and hail.

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Scientist Karen Kosiba goes into the eye of the storm to investigate the 2011 tornado season.

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This image begins to paint a picture of the interactions of various weather systems. These systems in combination with the terrestrial Great Plains presents an ideal stage for massive and very different fronts to collide. Cold dry polar air from Canada is brought down to meet with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. It is along the front of these two air masses that tornadoes occur. The Jet Stream and warm air masses from the south west effect the location of the front which is why tornadoes occur all over the United States.

The peak tornado times vary between regions. In general, tornado season tends to move northward from late winter to mid summer. In southern states, the peak season is typically March to May; May to June in the southern plains; and most often in the spring on the Gulf Coast.

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The term 'Tornado Alley' came about in the 1950's when research began to study the severe weather of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, and Minnesota. The core of Tornado Alley (highest frequency of storms) stretches from northern Texas up to North Dakota. Although, the image below shows the areas of most frequent tornadoes.
This raises the question: why do tornadoes continuously spawn in these areas? What weather conditions are at work here?

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Where is Tornado Alley and why is it a weather phenomenon?

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Where is Tornado Alley and why is it a weather phenomenon?

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Start here and feel free to branch you way out exploring and learning what Tornado Alley and it is a spectacular and devastating event.
The image below is of a supercell that is forming over the Great Plains of the United States in an area known as Tornado Alley. Supercells are the rarest form of rotating thunderstorms yet they can exist anywhere with the right pre-existing weather conditions. However, they mostly occur in Tornado Alley, the Tornado Corridor of Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.