The future of tornadoes as climate changes

Tornadoes are very fickle things.  Sometimes they can form in bunches, and sometimes they don't form when all the conditions indicate they should, and sometimes they behave the way they are expected to, so tornado chasers can chase them.

But because they are unusual meteorological phenomena, it takes a certain set of factors to combine to make them.   So the question has arisen, how will climate change affect those factors, and will it mean more or less tornadoes?

Apparently, the answer is less, overall.  But more of them when the conditions are right to make them.

Sean Sublette on Severe Weather, Tornadoes in a Warming World


"In a 2014 study, tornado researchers at Florida State University looked at days with at least four, eight, 16 and 32 tornadoes. They found that while days with at least four tornadoes were on the decline, the number of days with 16 and 32 tornadoes has increased. And the odds of a day with at least 32 tornadoes has more than doubled."

Now, climate change deniers would point to the declining overall numbers of tornadoes as a good thing. But those that understand how the world's climate is changing know that "Attack of the Tornado" days can be a lot more devastating.