#17: Tornadoes avoid big cities
Tall buildings, traffic, heat, paved streets, and urban skylines have all been credited with somehow breaking tornadoes apart. History has been less cooperative. The National Weather Service has documented significant tornadoes within major metropolitan areas, including Chicago, directly addressing the persistent belief that cities are protected. Tornadoes form from powerful thunderstorms whose circulation extends far beyond individual buildings. A downtown core may be a smaller target on a map than miles of open countryside, which can create the impression that cities are missed more often for a mysterious reason.
