By Jana Foggan and edited by Alexandra Hedrick and Terri Taylor
Everyone knows the catchy tune of “Dixieland” as a song of pride of the South. When skies begin to thicken with strong storms, hail and bubbling, dark green clouds, anyone can bet that once the few sirens or severe weather alerts ring, they definitely would not wish they were "away down south in Dixie.” The reason that people feel this way about incoming severe weather in the southern part of the country can be described in two words: Dixie Alley, located in the southeastern United States.
Dixie Alley, located in the southeast, appears to be the latest target for tornadoes in the United States. The name Dixie Alley derived from a devastating tornado outbreak that occured in 1971 in the Mississippi Delta, which caused several tornadoes to rip through the Southeast.
Dixie Alley is relatively smaller in size compared to Tornado Alley and is located in the heart of the Southeast. The area includes Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and the upper Tennessee valley in northern Alabama, all of which comprise Dixie Alley's "hot spot."
Another quality of Dixie Alley is that on average, more tornadoes touch down in this region than anywhere else in the country. According to ABC 33 meteorologist James Spann, Dixie Alley has twice as many killer tornadoes in the region which may be based on the inhabitants of the area.
Dixie Alley also sees more tornadoes year-round. However, these tornadoes are mainly in the fall and winter months due to intense frontal systems that pass through the area, causing a great deal of damage and cooler temperatures.
A vast majority of the country hears about tornadoes touching down or being spawned off of supercell thunderstorms in Dixie Alley more frequently than those that occur in the plains of Tornado Alley. In the Southeast alone, there were more reports of EF-5 tornadoes, the strongest and most violent on record from a scale of zero to five, between January 1950 and October 2006.
Forrest Lambert from Extreme Weather Storm Chasing said, “There’s three, not four ingredients. The thunderstorm is the so-called mom to the tornado. That would be called the thunderstorm offspring. The three ingredients are moisture, instability and lift.”
When it all comes down to it, Dixie Alley really is not all that different from the midwestern Tornado Alley. The main differences are the locations of the two, their population barriers and time of year that tornadoes are apparent.
Spann said the number of the most violent tornadoes ranging from EF-3 to EF-5 is about the same in both regions. Both have frequent tornadoes during November and December and strong tornadoes that occur at any time, especially during the evening and overnight.
“Dixie Alley sees more powerful tornadoes in the fall and wintertime than Tornado Alley sees in the spring and summertime,” Lambert said.
One of the most important factors that come with severe storms and tornadoes is the devastation left behind. Most tornadoes strike in Dixie Alley during the late night hours and catch several people off guard. Tornadoes are most likely to strike where there are manufactured homes in densely populated areas, leading to higher fatalities with little or no warning.
Even though Louisiana is not known for tornadoes and severe weather besides hurricanes, it is still important for the public to learn more about the atmosphere as well as the area they live in, especially down in Dixie Alley. Tornadoes are also likely to strike even when there is a slight chance for them to occur in the area.
Whether the time of year is at the dead heat of the summer or with the ever -- changing fall weather, people in Dixie Alley can really afford to let their guard down. Once residents of Dixie Alley become more aware and make the proper preparations for these dangerous storms, they will enjoy life “living in the land of cotton."
Dixie Alley Story on NOLA.com
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