A tornado is one of the most unpredictable works of nature; it can strike with very little warning. It is also very destructive and dangerous. Have you ever wondered how something like this forms or what causes it? Do you know what you can do to prepare yourself for a tornado? I’m going to answer all of this, along with other questions you may be asking yourself.
First of all, I 'm going to give you some basic information on tornadoes. A tornado is a strong column of wind rotating around a center of low atmospheric pressure. Tornadoes look like large black funnels hanging from storm clouds. The winds inside a tornado can blow at speeds up to 500 miles per hour, but on average about 300 miles per hour. They are the fastest winds on earth. A tornado can form very fast, some even in less than a minute. Some people may say that a tornado is as loud as a train, but that isn 't always
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If there is a cloud of debris coming towards you there is a good chance there is a tornado in your area, even if a funnel cloud isn’t visible. Also if there are strong winds one second, and the next they suddenly die down, and it becomes very still then there is a chance that there is a tornado forming. Most tornadoes trail behind the storm, so it isn’t unusual for you to see sunlight and somewhat clear skies before the tornado hits. Most of the time, but not always, there will be large hail when you are in the threat of tornado. Also RADARs can detect some tornados. A RADAR is a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of something. RADARs can especially detect the mesocyclones of a tornado. Mesocyclone is a vortex of air sometimes in tornadoes. Because of the curvature of the earth the RADAR cannot detect some tornadoes. Also RADARs are less successful when detecting land spouts because they are short (in time not
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a tornado is a rotating column of air accompanied by a funnel shaped downward extension of a cumulonimbus cloud and having a vortex several hundred yards in diameter whirling destructively at speeds of up to three hundred miles per hour. There are six classifications of tornadoes, which are measured on what is known as the Fujita Scale. These tornadoes range from an F0 to an F5, which is the most devastating of all. Abnormal warm, humid, and oppressive weather usually precede the formation of a tornado. Records of American tornadoes date back to 1804 and have been known to occur in every state of the United States.
Tornadoes are “violent windstorms that take the form of a rotating column of air or vortex that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud” as Tarbuck and Lutgens (2012) explain.
In literature, symbolism is used to give meaning to certain things throughout a story that are different than their literal sense. Symbolism also gives the writer freedom to add a deeper meaning to their work. The storm that took place in Kate Chopin’s story, The Storm, is used to symbolize getting Alcee and Calixta back together, the passion between the two of them, and to keep Bobinot and Bibi from returning to the gallery to find Alcee and Calixta.
On May 20th, 2013 a EF 5 tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma and surrounding towns, with a path as wide as 1.3 miles wide (2.1 km) and had a wind speed, estimated at its peak, of 210 miles per hour (340 km/h). Killing 24 people, and injuring 377, this was one of the United States worst tornadoes in the past few years, along side the Joplin, Missouri tornado, in 2011. One of Mother Nature’s most dangerous and still very mysterious phenomenons averages about 1,200 reported each year, resulting in 80 deaths and injuring 1500. With very little known about them, especially whether or not they will form is one of the questions that plague meteorologist to this very day. What causes tornadoes, how does the tilt and gravity of the earth affect the winds to produce a tornado, and what will the future hold about our understanding of tornadoes?
On May 4, 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by an exceptionally strong tornado. With maximum winds estimated to be in excess of 205 miles per hour, and leaving a damage path as wide as 1.7 miles, the storm would go on to be rated a rare EF5, the first recorded in the United States since 1999. When the storm finally subsided, 95 percent of Greensburg had been destroyed, killing eleven people.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), (2001). U.S. Tornado Climatology. Accessed on 9//27/2011 at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/tornadoes.html#deadly
1. According to the USA Today Tornado Information website, a tornado is a "violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and pendant from a thunderstorm." Therefore, thunderstorms are the first step in the creation of a tornado.
I would like to start out by what we know about tornados and outbreaks, and what is said to be the cause of such catastrophic events, such as the outbreak that occurred November 17th in the Midwestern, portion of the United States. Tornado outbreaks occur when there are multiple tornados that are said to be produced by the same weather system. The classification of an outbreak can vary depending on interpretation. It is said that in order to be classified as a “tornado outbreak” there must be a certain number of tornados that touch down. It is said that the US has the most tornados of any country. This can be attributed the location with in the mid latitude. The Rocky Mountains, have the ability to block moisture and “buckle” the atmospheric flow; thus forcing a lot of dry air at mid-levels of the troposphere, due to downslope winds. While the Rockies are forming a “dry-line” the Gulf of Mexico on the other hand contributes a lot of low level moisture. This mixture of warm air and cold air is to blame for the large number of tornados that form in the US. These events are most prevalent in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, along with the Great Plains also known as (tornado alley) although some of these systems have been known to move as far North as Canada. The tornado outbreak that took place on the 17th of November is said to have been the one of the largest outbreaks to have occurred in eight years. This particular storm spawned a total of 72 tornados that swept through seven states, according to the National Weather Service. This outbreak is being considered the fourth largest outbreak of its kind, especially this time of year.
Tornadoes are devastating atmospheric events that affect the ecology and the lives of people in their paths. Tornadoes are defined as “a violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud” (Glossary of Meteorology, 2011). The Tri-state tornado was the deadliest tornado in the United States. It stayed on the ground for a total of 219 miles through areas of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killed a total of 695 people, and an estimated $16.5 million in damages (National Weather Service, 2011). Luckily, the tornado’s path was largely rural farmland with scattered small towns between them.
On May 22nd, 2011 a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing 162 people and injuring 1150. With wind speeds of 322km/h, the tornado made a total cost of over $2 billion for the city. 8000 structures were destroyed, 2000 of which were homes. Many people were left homeless. The tornado held an incredible EF5 rating on the Fujita scale, measured from the amount of destruction. The tragic event lasted 38 minutes, from 5:34 pm to 6:12pm. Cool wind from the Rockies in Canada and warm wind from the gulf of Mexico formed into a supercell thunderstorm creating a tornado in Kansas. The tornado rapidly moved into Joplin and continued on its 35 km path.
Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching.
A tornado requires some basic ingredients to come together. First, energy in the form of warm, moist air must exist to feed thunder storms. Second, there must be a top layer of hot, dry air called a cap. This air acts like a lid on a simmering pot, holding in the warm air that’s accumulating in the atmosphere below until the storm’s ready to burst. Last, there has to be rotating winds speeding in oppositedirections at two different levels in the atmosphere, a phenomenon called wind shear, can cause the storms to rotate. Tornado alley is perfectly situated to meet these requirements. (1)
A tropical cyclone is a warm-core, low-pressure system producing high winds that spiral counter-clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) and inward, with the highest winds near the center of circulation. The large counter-clockwise and inward flow is characteristic of the nearly symmetric structure of tropical cyclones as they are comprised of rain bands spiraling toward the center. These warm-core storms typically form over the tropical and subtropical oceans and extract their energy from the heat content of the oceans.
middle of paper ... ... Help people if they are trapped under fallen debris and give them first aid in the event that they are injured. Tornado safety and preparedness are key to protecting your loved ones during a tornado. So far, there has been no evidence that tornadoes pick up objects and move them to Oz, but we do know they can lift enormous objects and cause billions of dollars in damage.
These are all important tornado facts and reasons of why this phenomenon occurs. Tornadoes are natural disasters that we can not do anything about, we just have to learn to live with them and be smart about how we approach them. There is no preventing a tornado from occurring so we must merely take all the precautions so we will be safe.