US Drought Brings A Surprise Benefit: No Tornados (cnn.com)

Slashdot reader turkeydance tipped us off to news that America hasn't had a single tornado in November, even though last year it experienced 99, and averages 58 every November. CNN reports: Drought is overwhelming Southeastern states this fall, and temperatures have soared, depleting ground moisture. Storms need moist air to develop, and the lack of moisture this fall has inhibited storm development both for the much needed rain and the formation of supercell storms capable of producing tornadoes. Precipitation has been near or at zero for weeks in the region. The last measurable day of rain in Birmingham, Alabama, was September 18... As a result, wildfires have become the main disaster threat this fall. The last five years have all seen a below-average number of tornados, and between 2012 and 2014 the U.S. saw fewer tornadoes than any previous three-year stretch.

Comments

Re:Will climate activists argue...

[GrumpySteen]

Are you going to argue that the southeast shouldn't have rain and claim that becoming a lifeless desert is preferable to the possibility of more frequent/severe tornadoes?

Or are you just going continue to make up more ridiculous strawman arguments that you wish climate activists would make because it would make them easier to dismiss?

Re:Law of Averages

[AK Marc]

Back before humans controlled the rivers, that'd be enough. The floods would fill the swamps, and the swamps would be wet until the next flood. Now, with levees and canals, the floods are directed to the ocean, so the ground doesn't get the water, the ocean does. Then we complain the ground is dry. Like we didn't know how rain works.