MYTH: Tornadoes are the biggest weather danger in the Great Plains and Midwest.
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In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field. |
TRUTH: In the United States, including in the Midwest and Great Plains regions, vehicle accidents on icy bridges and roads during winter precipitation kill and injure significantly more people annually than tornadoes.
| Comparing 2008-2009 Average Annual Fatalities from Tornadoes [1] and Road Ice [2] |
| State |
Tornado
Fatalities [1] |
Road Ice
Fatalities [2] |
| Oklahoma |
7 |
15 |
| Kansas |
2 |
14 |
| Texas |
0 |
19 |
| Iowa |
6 |
22 |
| Missouri |
11 |
20 |
| Minnesota |
1 |
27 |
|
Icy bridges caused mass casualty events in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on February 11, 2021.
On December 15, 2016, bridges iced from freezing drizzle killed 3 and injured 81 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In that single day, bridge icing surpassed that entire year's tornado death and injury count for the whole state [1].
Visit the IcyRoadSafety.com to learn more about this hazard in more detail.
READ: More Weather Myths | Weather Library Home
 About the Author: Dan Robinson has been a storm chaser, photographer and cameraman for 33 years. His career has involved traveling around the country covering the most extreme weather on the planet including tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, floods and winter storms. Dan has been extensively published in newspapers, magazines, web articles and more, and has both supplied footage for and appeared in numerous television productions and newscasts. He has also been involved in the research community, providing material for published scientific journal papers on tornadoes and lightning. |
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