Morning News

Recent String of Midwest Tornadoes Not Blamed
on El Nino

Aired April 6, 1998 - 9:25 a.m. ET 

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT
BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. 

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The recent string of
killer tornadoes that has struck the U.S. is leaving
devastated
residents wondering why in their home town. CNN's John
Zarrella took that question to the professionals. 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT
(voice-over): The aftermath... 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE #1: The living room is the
worst. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE #1: You ain't never seen anything
in your life like it. They raise you up, they turn you
around. 

ZARRELLA: From Minnesota to Florida, powerful winter
and early spring tornadoes have shattered communities and
taken lives. El Nino was blamed for much of the
destruction. 

What's next? Forecasters who make a living tracking
twisters say as the traditional heart of tornado season
approaches, El Nino won't be a player. 

JOE SCHAFFER, STORM PREDICTION CENTER,
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: In terms of the tornado season
itself, I really don't think El Nino will have much of an
impact. 

ZARRELLA: Experts believe tornadoes that struck Florida
and Georgia in February and March were produced from
storms enhanced by El Nino. Tornado intensity is measured
on a scale of zero to five, with five the strongest. In
Florida,
only three F-4, or devastating tornadoes, have ever hit,
all formed in El Nino years. 

TERRY FABER, TORNADO RESEARCHER,
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: What it appears El Nino is doing
is it's just strengthening the tornadoes that may have been
F-0, F-1 to begin with and wouldn't have caused any
damage, and are now F-2, F-3, F-4 and completely
annihilating homes and trailer parks. 

ZARRELLA: But in the Midwest's Tornado Alley,
researchers can't find a correlation between El Nino and
increased tornado activity. 

(on camera): The atmospheric ingredients that come together
to form Midwest tornadoes are, the experts say, different
from the El Nino-intensified Southeast storms. 

(voice-over): Meteorologists believe this could be a bad 
year in Tornado Alley, simply by chance. 

SCHAFFER: That's how averages are. If you have fewer one
year, you will have more the next year. 

ZARRELLA: What's critically important, forecasters say, is
figuring out a better warning system. In the Southeast in El
Nino years, the deadliest storms are developing at the worst
possible time: overnight, when people are fast asleep. 

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami. 

(END VIDEOTAPE) 




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