"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)
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