Disaster characteristics of tornadoes over China during the past 30 years

Based on historical damage data of tornados extracted from the meteorological disaster database in China Meteorological Administration, we have counted the frequency and disaster situation of tornado over China from 1984 to 2013, and then analyzed their spatial-temporal characteristics by using time series statistical analysis, trend analysis and GIS spatial analysis methods. Results show that the decreasing trends of the tornado occurrence frequency and the number of dead or missing persons caused by tornados are evident in China from 1984 to 2013. The number of damaged or collapsed houses shows a decreased trend, while the direct economic losses only decreased slightly. Tornadoes occur mainly in summer, especially in July, and rarely occur in winter. Most of the dead or missing people, most of the damaged or collapsed houses and most of the direct economic losses occur in summer, especially in July. From west to east in China, the occurrence frequency of tornado and the direct economic losses increase spatially. The dead or missing people and the damaged (or collapsed) houses are mainly distributed in southern part of East China. Tornados rarely occur in Northwest China and Southwest China, and the damages are less serious these regions than that in east-central China. Tornados occur frequently in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces with serious economic losses and many people die from the tornado in these provinces. The tornado damage is the most serious in Jiangsu province and Anhui province.