Analysis: Tornado Activity Shifts East, Raising Southern Risks

A U.S. Census Bureau analysis finds that tornado activity is shifting east from the Great Plains toward the Midwest and South, while spreading into more months of the year. The analysis counted about 1,559 tornadoes in 2025, 27% above the 1991–2020 average, with activity down 25% in the West and up 12% in the East; researchers caution that the long-term shift is gradual. The trend raises particular concerns in Southern communities, where residents of mobile homes are 15 to 20 times more likely to be killed in a tornado than people in site-built homes. In Greene County, Alabama, where about a third of homes are manufactured and roughly 40% of residents are considered vulnerable, tornado events rose 171% from 2010 to 2025. The analysis also points to an expanded tornado season, including increased activity in cooler months across Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.