2022 so far: Alabama has had more tornado warnings than any other state

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - If you think our severe weather season has been active in 2022, you are most definitely right. Truthfully, “active” maybe an understatement when crunching the numbers.

Since we turned the calendar to 2022, Alabama has seemingly seen every type of severe weather except hurricanes and blizzards. We’ve had numerous tornadoes, damaging wind and large hail reports, and even some instances of flooding.

Total number of tornado watches by state in 2022.(Iowa State University)

The numbers that really stand out, though, as those that have to do with tornadoes...

A total of 46 tornado watches have included at least one Alabama county in 2022. That is second to only Arkansas, which has been under 49 tornado watches. Mississippi (42), Georgia (36) and Louisiana (33) round out the top five.

Total number of tornado warnings by state in 2022.(Iowa State University)

Switching to the number of tornado warnings issued in 2022, you get roughly the same result. The National Weather Service has issued 115 tornado warnings for Alabama counties as of April 18th. That is good for sole possession of first place.

Mississippi (110), Texas (104), Arkansas (88), and Florida (82) round out the top five for total number of tornado warnings issued in 2022.

Sound familiar?

Yep, the list is pretty much the exact same states that lead the way in the tornado watch category. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since winter and spring are highly active seasons for severe weather and tornadoes in the Southeast and Deep South.

Number of days with at least 1 tornado warning in 2022.(Iowa State University)

Even with severe weather being common this time of year, it has been a bit more active than normal. According to the Storm Prediction Center, there have been 534 tornado reports, 603 large hail reports and 2,034 damaging wind reports across the U.S. since January 1st.

Alabama is responsible for 75 of those tornado reports, 26 of the large hail reports and 165 of the damaging wind reports. That means Alabama has seen 14% of all the tornadoes to strike the U.S. in 2022!

The next several days will be quiet in our part of the world, but that does not mean we are done with severe weather this spring. There are still 11 days left in April and all of May to get through before severe weather season quiets down.