Dixie Alley

"Dixie Alley" is a colloquial term sometimes used for areas of the southern United States which are particularly vulnerable to strong to violent tornadoes. Some argue this is distinct from the better known "Tornado Alley" and that it has a high frequency of strong, long-track tornadoes that move at higher speeds. The term was coined by National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) Director Allen Pearson after witnessing a tornado outbreak which included more than 9 long-track, violent tornadoes that killed 121 on February 21–22, 1971. The specific characteristics of the Southeast led to VORTEX-SE, a field project studying tornadogenesis, diagnosis and forecasting, in addition to social science implications, and examines both supercellular tornadoes and those resulting from quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) thunderstorm structures. This was followed a few years later by another major field project, PERiLS, focusing on QLCS tornadoes.