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Analyzing Tornadoes and Volcanoes—Get the Facts with Wolfram|Alpha

April 4, 2013 —
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It’s tornado season in some parts of the United States, and while longtime users of Wolfram|Alpha are probably aware of our ability to analyze earthquake data, we weren’t able to say much about tornadoes. Now, utilizing data from from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, Wolfram|Alpha can answer questions about tornado activity in the US from 1950 to 2012. For good measure, we’ve also added data on worldwide volcanic eruptions to our knowledge base.

Missouri receives a fair amount of tornado activity—St. Louis and its surroundings seem to experience an F1 tornado every year, and an F4 every few decades:

tornadoes within 25 miles of St. Louis

You can also query about tornadoes of a certain magnitude, within any particular region. For example:

F4 tornadoes in Illinois

With this upgraded functionality, you can ask about tornado activity over a specific range of dates. How many F5 tornadoes have occurred after 1950?

F5 tornadoes after 1950

With additional data from NOAA’s database of significant volcanic events, you can also ask Wolfram|Alpha about volcanic activity in any “hot spot” in the world. For example, ask about a latitude, longitude, and a given radius:

volcanic eruptions in 40N, 14E within 250 mi

Give a named location and a time frame:

volcanic eruptions near kamchatka, russia after 1750

Or make use of superlatives:

most destructive volcanic eruption

Whether your interest in volcanoes and tornadoes is mere curiosity or a sincere academic devotion, you can analyze them in detail with Wolfram|Alpha.

1 Comment

This is really good, it would be of great help to those who research in the related field. It has always been difficult to get genuine information about earthquakes online, many a times you get exaggerated information. Students too will be benefited.

Posted by Jeo May 27, 2013 at 3:12 am