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.
List of 2008 Minnesota tornadoes
The following is a list of 2008 Minnesota tornadoes. Minnesota is a state located in the North Central United States along the northern edge of Tornado Alley, and on average receives 24 tornadoes per year. 2008 was a more active year historically, with 43 confirmed tornado touchdowns. Thirty-eight of the tornadoes (or 88%) were considered "minor", rated EF0 or EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The remaining five tornadoes were rated as "significant", at EF2 or EF3.