Cause of increased Tornado activity unknown - The Times

Cause of increased Tornado activity unknown

WEATHER EYE

UK weather forecast

A recent tornado in Mississippi killed 26 people

JULIO CORTEZ/AP

Last week an unusually long-lasting tornado tore a path 59 miles long through Mississippi, lasted over an hour and killed 26 people. That was followed by a weekend of tornados in the south and Midwest killing 32 people.

This year there have been more than 300 tornados and dozens of deaths in the US, the third most active start to a tornado season, although it is too early to say if this heralds a violent run of tornados for the rest of the year. But if April carries on at this rate it raises the chances of a devastating year.

The immediate driving force behind this year’s spate of tornados is hot humid air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, where sea surface temperatures