I have heard the expression “The Bible Belt” for years. On the other hand, until I started doing research for this blog I had never heard the words “Dixie Alley.” I also queried a buddy of mine and she had never heard it either. That prompted me to write this blog and clarify these terms – including the well-known expression, “Tornado Alley.” I don’t want to bore you with a lot of information – rather, I’ve decided on quick bulleted points to get a number of fun facts across. Here goes:

LET’S PINPOINT THE BIBLE BELT

• The term “Bible Belt” is usually used to describe these 10 states: Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Oklahoma. The tenth is Utah – which is included from a religious point of view BUT is not commonly referred to as “part of the Bible Belt” – strange, but true.

• The term “Bible Belt” includes Southern Baptists, Methodists and evangelical Protestantism belief systems. A recent survey found that Mississippi is the state with the highest percentage of  “very religious” Americans.

• That said, the Bible Belt is also a region of a variety of social issues. Namely: (1) Educational attainment and college graduation rates in the Bible Belt are among the lowest in the U.S., and (2) Heart disease, obesity, homicide and teenage pregnancies are among the highest in the nation.

NOW LET’S LOOK AT THE OTHER SIDE

• We’ll call this “The Un-Bible Belts” in the U.S. This includes the Pacific Northwest and the northeastern United States. The 10 “least religious” states include: Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Connecticut. New York and Rhode Island tied for 10th place (for a total of 11 states). Well, at least New York didn’t come in first – based on the number of reprobates and heathens I know I thought for sure we’d be #1.

NEW SUBJECT: TORNADOES IN THE U.S.

• The United States has MORE TORNADOES than any other country in the world – or, over 1,200 annually and four times the amount seen in Europe. Violent tornadoes – those rated EF4 or EF5 – occur more often in the U.S. than in any other country.

• Most occur east of the Rocky Mountains, meaning: The Great Plains, the Midwest, the Mississippi Valley and the southern U.S.

• “Tornado Alley” is a term for an area particularly prone to tornadoes – it stretches from northern Texas to Canada with its core centered on Oklahoma, Kansas and northern Texas.

• Favorable conditions for tornadoes in the U.S. can occur at any time. However, they are most common in the spring and least common in the winter. That said, a non-season tornado struck McLean County, Illinois during the winter and blew 20 railroad cars off their tracks.
   

DEADLY DIXIE: TORNADO ALLEY’S LETHAL NEIGHBOR

• Storm chasers flock to Tornado Alley each spring to see monster storms in person, but the real action is farther southeast. They’re just more difficult to see because they’re often under the cover of night.

• The fastest, longest-lasting and deadliest twisters strike the southeast – commonly known as Dixie Alley to weather buffs. Dixie Alley is just a deadly extension of the more famous Tornado Alley in the Great Plains.

• Tornadoes don't lollygag in Dixie Alley, which spreads from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Upper Tennessee Valley. “They tend to last longer and move faster,” says one storm chaser. “In 2010, Mississippi led the nation with three killer tornadoes.”

So there you have it – lots of info about the Bible Belt, Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley. But don’t worry because I’ve just come across this interesting statistic: the odds of being hit by a tornado are “1 in 4,513,000” – so we’re all pretty safe.

Shaun Nelson-Henrick