Dear Tom,
Do tornadoes occur in the Southern Hemisphere, and if they do, is it with the same direction of spin and frequency as in the U.S.?
Michael Guth
Dear Michael,
Tornadoes do occur in the Southern Hemisphere but at a greatly reduced frequency than in the U.S., which hosts about 75 percent of the world’s twisters. Southern Hemisphere tornadoes have been reported in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, and meteorologists agree that the number of tornadoes outside of this country is underreported.
Nearly all Northern Hemisphere twisters rotate cyclonically, or counterclockwise, though on rare occasions anticyclonic tornadoes have been documented. South of the equator, twisters rotate clockwise, but like their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, there are undoubtedly a few that rotate cyclonically.
