Tennessee tornado.
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Waves of hitherto rare midwinter tornadoes swept the
southern part of America's heartland yesterday. So far 28
people are known to have been killed in Tennessee, 13 in
Arkansas, 7 in Kentucky and 4 in
Alabama. A family of 3 was killed in Arkansas. This is the
second time this winter tornadoes have erupted in the
central US. The storms are due to the fact that, after each
blast of cold air passes, a strong flow of warm, humid air
develops, surging up from the Gulf of Mexico. Then the next
cold wave comes, with explosive results all along the front.
In the past, winter tornadoes were rare, but now they're
killers. What can we expect in the future?
A combination of two factors are causing the current extreme
weather violence. First, polar melt on an unprecedented
scale last summer appears to have weakened the northward
flow of ocean currents, resulting in more arctic air
dropping farther south faster this winter. Second, the Gulf
of Mexico and the Caribbean remain warmer than normal. This
means that, as soon as the cold air passes, warm air surges
back, setting the stage for events such as happened yesterday.
It is possible that this summer will be cooler in the
arctic, if current flows do not re-establish themselves.
While this will mean more unseasonably violent weather in
the short term, over the next few years a more normal
pattern will re-emerge, until arctic melt begins again.
Each summer there is a high level of arctic melt, a violent
winter will follow. This process is predicted in many global
warming models, and is a side-effect of the warming process.
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