Digitizing and Geocoding Historical Records to Improve an Understanding of Tornado Climatology

Abstract

Tornadoes have the potential to cause catastrophic destruction and mass casualties. What influence a changing climate has on tornado behavior remains a largely unanswered question. Much of the current knowledge of tornado climatology is linked to historical tornado reports that date back to 1950 and are maintained by the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center. Here, we digitize and geocode significant and killer tornado reports over the period from 1880 to 1989 as a means of improving and expanding the data readily available to researchers. In total, 12,191 tornado reports were included to create a spatial data set that includes tornado characteristics consistent with the severe report database. Existing as both a straight-line track and an initial point model, the data set is broad enough to provide statistical analysis on tornado characteristics, geospatial analysis at the grid and county level, and point-based analysis at fine spatial scales. This flexibility in the data set allows for the application of methodologies across a range of disciplines that can improve studies related to tornado climatology and curriculum rooted in quantitative and geospatial analysis.