Home > News > Headlines

Print   Subscribe

Yellow Bird: North Dakota not the next Tornado Alley
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Filed Under: Opinion

"Could North Dakota be joining the southern Plains states in “Tornado Alley”? And are we being pushed toward that “alley” by global warming?

I wondered about those questions as Sunday night's storm rumbled through the Grand Forks region, leaving much of Northwood, N.D., in ruins in the process.

Readers who are older than 50 will remember the days when you looked outside during daylight and judged a storm by the depth of its darkness, the height of its clouds and how many spears of flashing lightning you could see from a distance. My grandmother also worried when there was a yellow or different color to the clouds, and I've heard other people talk about that, too.

In those days, all you could do was run for the cellar or basement.

These days, my daughter and I watch storms on the computer. Sunday night's storm seemed to come out of nowhere. The computer screen showed growing green, then swatches of orange to deep purple along a north/south line that moved east, breaking apart then strengthening into one formation as it approached Grand Forks. Fortunately for Grand Forks, it dropped south; unfortunately for Northwood, it became the deadly tornado that caused terrible havoc there."

Get the Story:
Dorreen Yellow Bird: Don't confuse region with ‘Tornado Alley' (The Grand Forks Herald 8/29)
Username: indianz@indianz.com, Password: indianz

More Dorreen Yellow Bird:
Yellow Bird: Time for smoke-free tribal casinos (8/27)
Yellow Bird: Elvis Presley still the king of rock'n'roll (8/20)
Yellow Bird: Inside and outside the Sundance circle (8/15)
Yellow Bird: Abuse of Indians reaches back in history (8/13)
Yellow Bird: Preparing for the ritual of the Sundance (07/25)
Yellow Bird: Re-examining tribal governments (7/23)
Yellow Bird: Chippewa man leaves strong legacy (7/18)
Yellow Bird: Seeing history through modern eyes (7/16)
Yellow Bird: Following the Lewis and Clark trail (7/11)
Yellow Bird: Be careful shopping in the wild (7/9)
Yellow Bird: Indians were foreigners in own land (7/5)
Yellow Bird: Yellowstone River needs protection (7/2)
Yellow Bird: Change comes but we can't forget past (6/25)
Yellow Bird: Festival days and prairie nights (6/20)
Yellow Bird: The case of the $54 million pants (6/18)
Yellow Bird: Monarch butterfly a special creature (6/13)
Yellow Bird: Graduates inspire with their lives (6/6)
Yellow Bird: Meth walks our reservations (6/4)
Yellow Bird: Commercials influence our lives (5/30)
Yellow Bird: Remember heroes on Memorial Day (5/28)
Yellow Bird: Blogger lacks facts about Indian life (5/22)
Yellow Bird: Indian culture changes in subtle ways (5/16)
Yellow Bird: Wolf knew it was ready to cross over (5/14)
Yellow Bird: Woman sees world with understanding (5/9)
Yellow Bird: Indian women and spiritual leadership (5/7)
Yellow Bird: Tighten gun control laws in North Dakota (5/3)
Yellow Bird: Easy ways at becoming more green (4/30)
Yellow Bird: School shootings just don't 'happen' (4/18)
Yellow Bird: The Red River Valley Flood of 1997 (4/9)
Yellow Bird: Women of color share their views (4/5)
Yellow Bird: UND powwow needs your support (4/2)
Yellow Bird: UTTC begs for funding year after year (3/26)
Yellow Bird: Even more about colon cancer screening (3/21)
Yellow Bird: Remembering my aunt/mother, Pearl (3/19)
Yellow Bird: Colon cancer screening essential (3/14)
Yellow Bird: Return land to North Dakota tribe (3/12)
Yellow Bird: Native Media Center at UND prospers (3/7)
Yellow Bird: Woody Keeble a true American hero (3/5)
Yellow Bird: Cell phone addiction affects driving (2/28)
Yellow Bird: UND has many reasons to be proud (2/26)
Yellow Bird: Signs of spring already in the air (2/21)
Yellow Bird: US automakers ignore innovation (2/19)
Yellow Bird: Tribes should snuff out smoking too (2/14)
Yellow Bird: On being Black or Indian 'enough' (2/9)
Yellow Bird: Braving the cold North Dakota winter (2/5)
Yellow Bird: Chokecherry for North Dakota state fruit (1/31)
Yellow Bird: Name-calling and bullying in schools (1/24)
Yellow Bird: Climate change impossible to ignore (1/17)
Yellow Bird: Tribes can help Indian doctors program (1/15)
Yellow Bird: Tribes have much to offer North Dakota (1/11)
Yellow Bird: Catching a ride on the Dakota wind (1/2)

Copyright © Indianz.Com