Tornado climatology
Tornadoes have been recorded on all continents except Antarctica and are most common in the middle latitudes where conditions are often favorable for convective storm development. The United States has the most tornadoes of any country, as well as the strongest and most violent tornadoes. A large portion of these tornadoes form in an area of the central United States popularly known as Tornado Alley. Other areas of the world that have frequent tornadoes include significant portions of Europe, South Africa, Philippines, Bangladesh, parts of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern and southeast Brazil, northern Mexico, New Zealand, and far eastern Asia.
List of United States tornadoes from January to March 1982
This is a list of all tornadoes that were confirmed by the National Climatic Data Center in the United States from January to March 1982. During this period, 81 tornadoes touched down across 23 states, resulting in 7 fatalities and numerous injuries. The strongest of these storms was an F4 in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles on March 18. Activity greatly varied between the three months, with January being above average, February at record low levels and March around average. Aside from two notable outbreaks, tornado events were sporadic and scattered across the country. More than half of the 60 tornadoes in March occurred during a single outbreak from March 14 to 17.