PRESS RELEASE
V
ORTEK LLCMOST TORNADO-PRONE SPOT IN ALABAMA
IS IN MADISON COUNTY
January 8, 2008 Huntsville, Alabama
As part of an ongoing tornado research project, by means of the Site Assessment of Tornado Threat (SATT) 3.0 software, and based on National Weather Service data from 1950 through 2006, the VorTek staff have determined the most tornado prone spot in Alabama, originally identified in March 2003, remains at latitude 34o 48’ N, longitude 86o 41’ W, which corresponds to a location in Madison County, .42 miles west of Alabama Highway 53, 100 yards south of Douglas Road. During the 57-year period noted, 72 tornado track segments have touched down or passed with 20 miles of this point. This includes eighteen F0 tornadoes, twenty-one F1, sixteen F2, six F3, six F4, and five F5. If the total land area disturbed by these tornadoes is divided by the land area within the 20-mile circle, on an annual basis the average fraction of land disturbed (or Annual Coverage Fraction) equals 1.2673 x 10-3 or 0.12673%, which is the largest value for any point within Alabama.
VorTek LLC
715 Arcadia Circle
Huntsville, AL 35801