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Expert weighs in on future of tornadoes in Bloomington

By Isabella Vesperini

Posted May 20, 2025

house tornado damage

A home by the People and Animal Learning Services' barn suffered severe damage due to the tornado Friday night. (Clayton Baumgarth)

Bloomington could see more tornadoes than usual in the future. 

Gabriel Filippelli, executive director of the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute, said climate change is shifting Tornado Alley away from the Great Plains towards the Midwest. 

Tornadoes occur when there is a mixture of warm and cold air that produce high, rotating winds, what Filippelli calls turbulent airflow in the atmosphere. 

“Influence of climate change maybe wouldn't be in the severity of a given tornado or set of tornadoes, but rather in the frequency that tornadoes form in Bloomington,” he said. 

The tornado that hit Bloomington Friday night was unusual, Filippelli said. Indiana was one of multiple states that experienced tornadoes; Kentucky and Missouri also suffered severe damage. 

Read more: Storm kills dozens in Midwest, South; several hurt by Indiana tornadoes

“This is tornado season. It's just Indiana doesn't necessarily see a lot of these,” he said. “Particularly in Bloomington or kind of the hilly areas of southern Indiana, they're not particularly common, although they do occur.” 

Filippelli said with tornadoes occurring in more populated areas, the risk of physical harm to people and structures will increase. People can prepare for more tornadoes by building stronger buildings and paying more attention to warning systems. 

“It ends up that people don't always listen. They hear the sirens, they hear the warnings or the alerts. They don't know what they mean,” he said. “And it's exciting to see extreme weather, right? So, they go outside or go the window, which is not where you should be.” 

Read more: Residents, PALS recover from tornado damage

Indiana University Health released safety tips for the storm season ahead. They suggest making a list of safe locations that don’t have windows, having battery-powered flashlights and radio in case the electricity goes out, reporting fallen trees and power lines but not approaching them and more. 

The Midwest and South are expected to get more severe weather today. 

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