Tornadoes are spinning up farther east in US, study finds

WASHINGTON (AP) – A new study finds that over the past few decades U.S. tornadoes have shifted – decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas but spinning up more in states along the Mississippi River and farther east.

Scientists aren’t quite certain why.

The study is in Wednesday’s journal Climate and Atmospheric Science. It sees a slight decrease in tornado activity in the Great Plains, with the biggest drop in central and eastern Texas.

The study found it is increasing most in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin and parts of Ohio and Michigan. Lead author Victor Gensini of Northern Illinois University says the increases could be deadly because more people live in those states.

Even with the decline, Texas still gets the most tornadoes of any state.