We thought it would be cool to come up with a list of facts about tornadoes that most people don’t know, but probably should. Living in tornado alley, it is important to know as much as you can about these terrible twisters in order to better stay safe when they touch down.

1. Most tornadoes tend to move from the Southwest towards the Northeast. It is also possible for them to move in the opposite direction for certain periods of time if the winds from the eye of the storm are strong enough.

2. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water. They tend to be weaker and usually occur during the late Fall or Winter seasons. If they do move on to land, they become full grown tornadoes.

3. On average. most funnel clouds last around 10 minutes. Most reported touchdowns only last a few seconds, but worst case scenario, some have been reported to be on the ground for over an hour.

4. The middle part of the country known as ‘The Great Plains’ (North Dakota down to Texas) is a breeding ground for tornadoes during the Spring and early Summer months. The flat terrain makes it easy for twisters to form.

5. Oklahoma City has been hit with more tornadoes then any other city in the United States! OKC has reported over 100 known tornado touch downs, but the numbers are thought to be much higher since documented reporting only goes back so far. OKC seems to be the bulls eye on the tornado map dart board.

6. Texas is the state with the most reported tornadoes. This is not surprising due to the massive size of the state.

7. Three out of every four tornadoes that touch down throughout the world, touch down in the United States!

8. The widest tornado ever reported and the tornado with the highest wind speeds ever reported both happened in……Oklahoma. In fact, the wind speeds reported during the Moore tornado in 1999 (302 mph) are the highest wind speeds reported on planet Earth!

9. The average time of the day to expect a tornado is between the hours of 3pm-9pm.

10. Tornadoes have occurred in every state in the United States and during every month of the calendar year.