In the beginning of storm season, starting in January to March, Dixie Alley is the place where tornadoes are most frequent. Dixie Alley and the Gulf states have been home to some truly devastating tornadoes throughout the years with the tornado outbreak of April 25-27th 2011 in (mostly) Alabama as the most recent and famous example. Dixie Alley gets a whole lot of tornadoes and big ones as well!
So, Dixie Alley is just as popular for chasing storms as Tornado Alley then? No. Not at all. Even if you only consider tornadoes a factor it is not perfect as storm events are far apart. More importantly, the chase terrain is what scares most chasers away from chasing in Dixie. Hills, large trees, terrible road network, many metropolitan areas, low storm bases and fast moving storms – all of these are factors that makes it very, very difficult to chase in Dixie. If you add in the mix that they do get some powerful tornadoes it is also very dangerous, as you may not see a wedge tornado until it almost over you!
For those reasons there are no organized tours offered primarily in Dixie Alley and none are based out of these states. Some of the earliest tours of the season, like the ones starting in mid April may lead you to Dixie but it is usually only if they have no other option. Experienced tour guides know where to go and how to handle the difficulties of Dixie and you may get some amazing experiences but don’t get too excited if you see a High Risk over Alabama on a tour date – chances are you may not see anything, and it might be dangerous.
