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.
Tornadoes of 2006
Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall on June 13, but was producing squalls well before then. Alberto's bands produced a small tornado event in the southeastern United States. There were 16 tornadoes reported; four in Florida, three in Georgia, six in South Carolina and three in North Carolina. At least seven of the tornadoes were confirmed; one was an F1 and the rest were F0. One person suffered minor injuries in one of the tornadoes.