CHAPTER.12- THE GREAT PLAINS AND PRAIRIES

The great plains is no stranger to extreme weather. From the 20 year drought cycle to tornadoes and hail, this region of the United States has experienced all that mother nature has to offer. Los Angeles experiences a very moderate Mediterranean subtropical climate, but as we all know, the weather can also be described as "extreme" occasionally. According to USA Today, there were 41 documented tornadoes in Los Angeles country between 1950 and 2004, more than any other city in the state of California. Although these tornadoes are generally very minor (f-0/f-1) compared to the ones in the great plains, there have been 5 tornadoes rated f-2 on the Fujita scale, which measures the strength of these storms. Hail is far more common is Los Angeles than tornadoes. These stones of ice water fall when the elements are right, and are fairly common during our winter storms. Of course, the hail we experience in L.A is rarely the golf ball size hail that falls on the great plains and can devastate crops and property.