The science of tornadoes in our region | Hey Ray!

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On a recent road trip, Elizabeth and I came across some severe weather.

Nearby tornado warnings and funnel clouds with storms were draped along I-70 near the Ohio and Indiana state lines.

Even two tornadoes were confirmed around 15 miles north of where we were traveling!

While that makes for a cool road trip story, we were in Indiana. What about tornadoes around here?

Because of our hills and interesting terrain, some people think tornadoes don't happen around here.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

We have had tornadoes in this area. We have actually had a lot of tornadoes in this area.

As you can see from this map from the National Weather Service showing tornadoes from 1950 through 2022, every county in our area has had a tornado.

They are not all weak tornadoes either.  We have had tornadoes of the Futjita or Enhanced Fujita Scale that range from EF-0 all the way to the biggest, most destructive tornadoes at EF-5!

While we have only had one that strong, most of our tornadoes fall between EF-0 and EF-2. That said, even an EF-0 tornado is extremely dangerous.

May, June, and July are the months were this area, on average, sees the most tornadoes. Looking at this graph, though, you can see that every single month has had a tornado in this area. Even the winter months!

They are more rare, but not impossible!

Tornadoes are possible any time of the day or night.  That said, there is only one hour of the day in this area, though, that hasn't had a tornado recorded. That is 7 a.m.!

They are still possible at 7 a.m. but haven't been seen in this area at that hour.

Most of our tornadoes occur in the afternoon and evening. This is when we typically have the most ingredients in place along with it being the warmest part of the day.