At nearly every school presentation I attend, I'm always asked this burning question. My guess is if you polled a group of people, the majority would say that tornadoes will stay away from mountains areas.

Most people feel that the mountainous terrain helps to deter tornadoes from occurring because of the rough nature of the land; moreover, tragically, some will fail to take cover because they feel the land will save them.

Most evidence suggests that a lower number of tornadoes do occur over mountainous terrain areas; however, some of the low numbers have to be attributed to the idea that there are less people living in those areas, so fewer tornado reports would be made. You know the old riddle, "if a tree falls in the forest with nobody around, does it make a sound?"

I have some examples of tornadoes that have occurred over mountainous regions:

F3 Tornado: 1995, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

F4 Tornado: 1987, Wyoming, Continental Divide (Elevation, 3070 meters)

F3 Tornado: 1993, Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming

These are just a few examples, but what do all three have in common? They were all rated F3 or greater. According to the April 2007 edition of the "Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society", F3-F4 intensity tornadoes average one event every two years over mountainous terrain. In the weather center we usually say, quality, and not quantity.

The idea is that certain locations will have enhanced channeling of winds, creating more low level wind shear, and allowing more moisture to be transported into the storm. There's no question that more modeling would need to be done in order to predict how a tornado would intensify, but the fact remains, tornadoes can and will occur over mountainous areas.

No matter where you are, if a tornado warning is issued for your county, then you need to seek shelter!