Final answer:
The answer to the question about the percentage of tornadoes occurring in Texas is B. 25%. Texas, part of 'Tornado Alley,' sees a notable number of tornadoes due to its meteorological conditions, but it is not the majority of U.S. tornado occurrences.
Step-by-step explanation:
The percentage of tornadoes that occur in Texas is approximately B. 25%. Texas is part of the region known as "Tornado Alley," which is notorious for being a hotspot for tornadoes in the United States.
A majority of tornadoes form in this area due to the unique meteorological conditions present, with Texas seeing a significant number of these intense storms. However, tornadoes can occur in many parts of the U.S., and the overall percentage that Texas contributes is large but does not constitute the majority.
Tornadoes are characterized by their raw destructive power, capable of blowing houses away and piercing tree trunks with debris due to high wind speeds that can reach as high as 500 km/h. They are caused by severe thunderstorms, particularly those known as supercells, which contain a column of air rotating around a horizontal axis that eventually shifts to rotate around a vertical axis, culminating in the formation of a tornado.