The Formations of Torandoes

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Tornadoes

Nebraskans are no strangers to tornadoes. They are a part of the spring and summer living in the Central Plains. We all know the damage tornadoes can create either first hand, as some can remember being around for the 1980 tornadoes that ripped through Grand Island, or know someone who has experienced a tornado first hand. Even though I have been living in Nebraska my entire life I still do not understand exactly how a tornado forms or what ingredients are needed in order to make a tornado form. In this paper that is exactly what we will look at, how a tornado is formed. We will look at the conditions needed for tornado formation, how tornadoes are formed out of supercells, and finally what spotters look for when chasing tornadoes.

The conditions have to be just right for a thunderstorm to form which in turn could produce a tornado. The most important thing that must happen in order for a thunderstorm to form is that the atmosphere must be conditionally unstable. “A conditionally unstable atmosphere is one where warm, humid surface air is overlain by cooler, drier air aloft” (Ahrens). The warm moist air comes up from the Gulf of Mexico to warm the ground while the cool dry air comes down from Canada. This meeting of the two air masses in the middle of the country is why the Central Plains is known as tornado alley, where the majority tornadoes occur. Tornado alley includes central Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. “Other factors include the Rocky Mountains to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and a terrain that slopes downward from west to east” (About Tornadoes). You can tell visually that the atmosphere is conditionally unstable and a thunderstorm is on its way by looking at the clouds. A cumulon...

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...ttp://www.wunderground.com/resources/education/tornadoFAQ.asp>.

Ahrens, C. Donald. "Tornadoes." Meteorology Today: An Introduction to Weather, Climate, and

Climate, and the Environment. 10th ed. S.l.: Brooks/Cole, 2013. 405-20. Print.

Dewey, Ken. "NEBRASKA TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY." NEBRASKA TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY. University of Nebraska, School of Natural Resources, 2009. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .

"NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory." NSSL: Severe Weather 101: Tornadoes. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

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Wicker, Crystal. "Weather Wiz Kids Weather Information for Kids." Weather Wiz Kids Weather Information for Kids. Crystal Wicker, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.

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