Re: “Is recent spate of tornadoes sign of warming or a natural cycle?” [May 27, A3]:
My jaw dropped when I read meteorologist Mike Smith’s quote, “It’s just part of the natural cycles of weather.” I lived the first 44 years of my life in Tornado Alley. As I type this my hometown — Tulsa, Oklahoma — is experiencing catastrophic flooding at the same time tornadoes have been sweeping through the Plains on a daily basis.
Despite Smith’s naysaying, the tornadoes and flooding now are more frequent and more extreme than in any period of my life. As others in the article point out, Tornado Alley is expanding into new areas, and the storms are getting wetter (i.e., potentially causing more damage).
Climate change is real. It may not “cause” the storms, but it definitely affects the weather patterns that intensify tornadoes and flooding. We need to work together to find ways to mitigate climate change instead of falsely attributing it to “natural cycles.”
Sheri Jacobson, SeaTac