Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley
"Tornado Alley" is an informal name for the central US region that sees frequent tornadoes — roughly from Texas north through Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. "Dixie Alley" covers the Southeast. Neither has an official boundary.
Why the central US gets so many tornadoes
No other place on Earth has as many tornadoes as the United States. In spring, warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico flows north underneath dry air from the desert Southwest and cool air from the Rockies and Canada. Strong winds aloft add the wind shear that lets thunderstorms rotate. Where those ingredients overlap, supercells — and tornadoes — become common.
Tornado Alley (Great Plains)
- States most often included: northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, often extended to South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and eastern Colorado.
- Peak season: late spring — May and June are the busiest months on the southern and central Plains, with activity shifting north into June and July.
- Character: wide-open terrain where tornadoes are often visible from miles away, mostly in the afternoon and evening — the heart of storm chasing.
Dixie Alley (Southeast)
- States most often included: Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of Georgia and Kentucky.
- Peak season: spring (March–May), with a second season in late fall (November–December). Tornadoes are possible in winter too.
- Why it's dangerous: more tornadoes happen at night, more are wrapped in rain, and trees and hills block the view. Mobile homes are also more common. Reliable alerts and shelter plans matter even more here.
Is Tornado Alley shifting east?
Research published in the late 2010s found tornado frequency has been decreasing in parts of the traditional Plains alley and increasing across the mid-South and Southeast since the late 1970s. Tornadoes still occur in every US state.
Watch the alleys live
TALON shows every NWS radar, storm tracks and warnings across both alleys — open the live radar, or jump to a city: Oklahoma City, Moore, Wichita, Dallas, Birmingham, Nashville, Jackson.
Quick answers
What states are in Tornado Alley?
There is no official boundary, but Tornado Alley usually means northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, often extended to South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and eastern Colorado.
What is Dixie Alley?
An informal name for the tornado-prone Southeast — mainly Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of Georgia and Kentucky — where tornadoes are more often at night and rain-wrapped.
When is tornado season?
On the Plains, tornado activity peaks in May and June. In the Southeast it peaks in spring with a second season in late fall.