Tornado Alley
The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, and Minnesota. It is largely a media-driven term although tornado climatologists distinguish peaks in activity in certain areas and storm chasers have long recognized the Great Plains tornado belt.
Tornado outbreak sequence of April 19–24, 2011
The tornado outbreak sequence of April 19–24, 2011 was an extended period of significant tornado activity that began on April 19th, 2011 and ended on April 24, 2011. It affected the Midwest and Southern United States. The outbreak produced an EF4 tornado that tore through the St. Louis metropolitan area. Other tornadoes caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Amazingly, no fatalities were reported in this outbreak. However, it was later followed less than 48 hours later by the largest tornado outbreak in the history of the United States.