Twelve Americans died this year as a result of twisters in the United States

Other theories blame the El Nino event and the

Only one tornado hit the United States in November as scientists say climate change is to blame.

The month is in line with what has been a record low year for twister activity with few tornadoes and tornado-related deaths.

Scientists are scrabbling for answers but believe that the melting ice caps, due to climate change, could be the cause.

Only one tornado hit the United States in November as scientists say climate change is to blame

'It is certainly plausible that a lack in Arctic sea ice this year has had implications for cyclone track and intensity, Victor Gensini, a professor of meteorology at the College of DuPage, told the Washington Post, also noting that there was natural variation in weather patterns.

He believes that climate change could be responsible for shifting the storm track north where it has remained over Canada.

Past studies have found a link between unusual jet stream behavior and climate change.

However, the unusually low number of tornadoes in 2016 - just 837 confirmed reports and 12 fatalities - could also be tied to the cyclical El Nino event.

The month is in line with what has been a record low year for twister activity with few tornadoes and tornado-related deaths (file image)

'The year in general has been considerably below normal (around 1000 tornadoes), which is not unexpected given the influence of the El Niño that persisted into spring, diverting the polar storm track northwards, and leading to a very quiet May,' John Allen wrote.

Another theory is that the historic drought over the Southeast could have affected the number of tornadoes. Without the humidity to create storms, there cannot be any tornadoes.

However, it is not just the Southeast that has seen record lows for twister activity, the entire United States has seen a tornado drought.

A huge ridge of high pressure has blocked the jet stream from moving southwards from Canada.

'The big player since September and even late summer in terms of synoptic pattern has been the persistent ridging over the Plains and Southeastern United States,' said John Allen, a pioneer in seasonal tornado forecasting and professor at Central Michigan University.

Scientists are scrabbling for answers but believe that the melting ice caps, due to climate change, could be the cause (the aftermath of a tornado in Kansas in July 2016)

This month, which is often referred to as the 'second season' for tornadoes due to its typically high number of twisters, has had just one recorded tornado - spotted by a pilot flying over northeast Kansas last week.

November has on average 58 tornadoes every month. This is only the fifth time in the past 65 years that tornado activity has dropped so low.

However, we're not at the end of the year yet.