FYI: Can Skyscrapers Prevent Tornadoes?
Manhattan, Your Skyscrapers Will Not Save You Spencer Platt/Getty Images/Superstock It's true that the plains of Kansas are a more familiar backdrop for tornadoes than Times Square, but the funnels can form just about anywhere if the conditions are right. The reason Tornado Alley, the area stretching from Texas to South Dakota and from the Rocky Mountains to Kansas, is the most active tornado spot in the U.S.-it sees hundreds a year-is not because it's flat farmland. It's because tornadoes form when two opposite weather systems collide under certain conditions, and this occurs with great regularity in Tornado Alley. During springtime in that region, a constant stream of cool, dry air blowing southeast from Canada runs into a similarly steady stream of warm, moist air moving northwest from the Gulf of Mexico. As these weather fronts interact, they build high-intensity thunderstorms that, if they're strong enough, can create a powerful updraft...