In my last blog post, I teased that we were trying to gain permission to implement data from more countries. However, it was still possible that the plan could fall through. Well, I’m eager to announce that we’ve been given the go-ahead by the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) to add their dataset of European tornadoes to our map. This update is exciting for several reasons:
Europe’s Tornado History
While nowhere else on Earth matches the United States for its sheer frequency and ferocity of tornadoes, other nations are no strangers to these storms. Europe itself has had brushes with both large outbreaks and intense tornadoes. In Europe’s largest tornado outbreak, over 100 tornadoes touched down across the United Kingdom, a count comparable to some of the US’s more prolific events. However, most of these tornadoes were weak and caused minor damage. On the other hand, Europe has experienced several (allegedly) F5-equivalent tornadoes, such as those that struck Ivanovo, Russia, and Palluel, France. These tornadoes would be notable even if they had touched down over the Great Plains, and that they impacted Europe may surprise some.
Understanding Tornadoes’ Worldwide Nature
It’s an unfortunate belief of many that only the Plains experiences strong tornadoes. Although it’s long been easy to find examples to disprove that for those living elsewhere in the US, doing so for other countries has been more challenging. There are far fewer resources for exploring the tornado histories of the rest of the world, and practically none with robust search tools and detailed statistics. Consequently, these storms remain obscure.
It shouldn’t be so hard to view tornado climatology in a worldwide context. Making this simpler is the main reason that I’m so thrilled that we have this access. I can’t make any promises about timing, but it’ll soon be much more straightforward to find information about tornado events across Europe. I don’t know everything that this data will allow, but with such easy access, we could learn a lot.
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