The Southeast prone to nocturnal tornadoes

Nighttime tornadoes are particularly dangerous, due to the time of day they occur. Hitting under cover of night, nighttime tornadoes can lead to more deaths.

When these storms hit at night, it can be difficult to spot and confirm tornadoes. In addition to not being able to spot tornadoes at night, many people may miss warnings because they are sleeping.

The states most susceptible to nighttime tornadoes are in the southeast. This includes Alabama with about 36% of tornado events occurring overnight. Tennessee has the highest percentage of nighttime tornado events at 46%.

Other states with high percentages of nighttime tornado events include Kentucky and Arkansas. With respectively 42 and 43% of nocturnal tornado events.

Not only do 36% of tornado events in Alabama take place overnight, but from 1950 to 2005, 50% of all nighttime tornado events in Alabama were deadly events. On top of that, 46% of deaths in Alabama occurred overnight.

Because nighttime tornadoes can be so dangerous, it’s important to have multiple ways to get weather warnings. A great way to get alerts is to use our Live Alert 19 app which you can download to your phone. Be sure to download it and set your alerts today.