Dear Tom,
Can tornadoes and hurricanes occur in the same place at the same time?
Neville and Elias Williams
Dear Neville and Elias,
You bet they can! Landfalling tropical cyclones frequently breed tornadoes because of the rapid development of favorable wind shears (change of wind speed and direction with height) needed for tornado formation. When a tropical system moves inland, the winds near the surface decrease faster than the winds aloft due to friction with the ground. This creates a large increase in wind speed with height on the storm’s right flank. According to the Tropical Prediction Center, almost all landfalling tropical cyclones produce at least one tornado, usually within 24 hours of moving onshore. Hurricane Beulah spawned a record 115 tornadoes after it moved into southeast Texas in September 1967.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
