Tornado Alley
Although the official boundaries of Tornado Alley are not clearly defined, its core extends from northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, into South Dakota. States such as Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio are sometimes included in Tornado Alley. Some research suggests that tornadoes are becoming more frequent in the northern parts of Tornado Alley where it reaches the Canadian prairies.
Tornadoes of 2011
Several tornadoes touched down across parts of the Southern United States. The most significant tornado was in the southeastern part of Nashville, Tennessee where significant damage was reported near Hickory Hollow Mall and near Percy Priest Lake in the evening (with widespread wind damage all across Middle Tennessee), and a tornado emergency was declared shortly thereafter for areas to the northeast in Wilson County where another tornado touched down with injuries. Both tornadoes were rated EF2. Other tornadoes touched down with varying degrees of damage in the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee, Mississippi, southwestern Kentucky and parts of Arkansas including three others rated EF2.The overall damage from this system amounted to $1,500,000