Does El Ni ause tornadoes?
No. Neither does La Ni Both are major changes in sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific which occur over the span of months. U.S. tornadoes happen thousands of miles away on the order of seconds and minutes. El Ni oes adjust large-scale weather patterns. But in between those and tornadoes, there are way too many variables to say conclusively what role El Ni or La Ni has in changing tornado risk; and it certainly does not directly cause tornadoes. A few studies have shown some loose associations between El Ni ears and regional trends in tornado numbers from year to year; but that still doesn’t prove cause and effect. Weak associations by year may be as close as the El Ni o-tornado connection can get — because there are so many things on the scales of states, counties and individual thunderstorms which can affect tornado formation. For more detailed information, see The Relationship between El Ni La Ni nd United States Tornado Activity, a research paper by Schaefer and Tatom.
