How Tornadoes Are Formed

Tornados are one of the most destructive and devastating natural forces on Earth. When a tornado is fully created, wind speeds can reach up to more than 300 mph (483 km/h). Most tornadoes that occur are between the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains, but tornados can happen where ever the conditions are right. 90% of tornadoes that happen in the United States, happens in the Central United States. Even though scientist have not yet understood how tornadoes are formed, they’ve developed a theory that consist of the process and conditions of which a tornado must have to form.

A low pressure system was over Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri moving towards the northeast. To the east of the low pressure system there was a warm front advancing north and a cold front trailing to the southwest. The temperatures recorded just before 1 p.m. was over 60o F. We can assume there was a 100-knot upper-level jet max moving from the west/southwest given the speed of the tornado. Wind shear was also present, helping with the rotation (National Weather Service, 2011). With these factors there was everything to make the perfect tornado.

The first thing that starts a tornado would be the winds. The wind updraft can form a funnel. This funnel is called a Mesocyclone and when the mesocyclone touches the ground it is considered a tornado. Clouds play an important role in forming tornadoes too. Some other clouds are called, Wall Clouds. These clouds protrude from the sky and look like a giant waves coming down about to crash on earth. When wall clouds form the sky might turn to a greenish color or some other color. This wall-cloud

In this paper, I will discuss what tornadoes are and how they form, what different forms of tornadoes there are, what tornado watches and warning are and give examples of tornadoes in Oklahoma and what destruction they caused, also while providing information about the Doppler radar.

How tornadoes form you ask? Tornadoes form when different winds from different places met and form this giant spinning destructive cyclone which can be powerful or only cause minor damage. Tornadoes form when hot air from different places and cold air from different places collides which can make a tornado at any speed,

What is a tornado?A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. Because wind is invisible, it is hard to see a tornado unless it forms a condensation funnel made up of water droplets, dust and debris. Tornadoes are the most violent of all atmospheric storms.Where do tornadoes occur?Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Even New Zealand reports about 20 tornadoes each year. Two of the highest concentrations of tornadoes outside the U.S. are Argentina and Bangladesh. How many tornadoes occur in the U.S. each year?About 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. yearly. Since official tornado records only date back to 1950,

Hurricanes usually form over the warmer tropical oceans. Hurricanes form from the evaporation of the warm water. Hurricanes are the most powerful over warm seas. Many of the hurricanes that hit the United States form near the African Coastline before traveling over the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricanes that hit the United States are most common in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Carolina, and North Carolina. Hurricanes are most common in early fall. Tornadoes form over land usually as heat from the surface causes air to rise. The air is humid which then becomes cooler and rises up making clouds that make

The definition of a tornado is a small, very intense cyclonic storm with exceedingly high winds, most often produced along cold fronts in conjunction with severe thunderstorms. A cold front is a front along which a cold air mass thrusts beneath a warmer air mass. A warm front is a front along which

The best predictors for tornado activity are rotating thunderstorms. They are well defined thunderstorms on a radar that include flash floods, hail, lightning, or severe winds. (“11 Facts About Tornadoes”) These storms are called supercells (“Tornado Facts”). Once they reach land, tropical storms or hurricanes can be accompanied by tornadoes. When a warm front meets a cold front, a thunderstorm can form, which can create 1 or more tornadoes (“11 Facts About Tornadoes”). With little to no warning, a tornado may strike.

A tornadoes form when it is humid but the ground is wet and slower winds are by the ground as the fastest wind are higher in the sky. Because of this the wind starts to circle around when the slow wind moves up higher. Rain will fall and so will a funnel which is the tornado. The reason twister in Florida left extreme damage and many houses were being fixed or covered with tarp. Today they are cleaning up the damage or debris all over town. Other places tornadoes have touched down resonantly are Virginia and North Carolina the worst one was the one in Carolina taking three lives. To not be one of those three you must find shelter once you hear the word "WARNING." if you hear "watch" then prepare to go into "WARNING." Pleas remember that.

Although meteorologist hardly acknowledge that their forecasts are not completely accurate, it is clear that without them the amount of harm would be great. The information of a possible tornado formation helps the public become prepared to the possibility of a tornado. Tornadoes warning systems have come a long way from the days where they were inaccurate and unreliable. Lead times have increased and are becoming more reliable. However, more sensitive technology is needed until forecasts can become more

Tornados are an extremely interesting phenomenon. These natural disasters need a series of very precise activities to occur in order to materialize. For a tornado to form, it needs the same events as in a thunderstorm to occur. First a wind shear needs to take place; this is when two opposing gusts of wind on different levels make a horizontal vortex. One section of the vortex will rise because of the buoyant warm air, creating a storm. After this a supercell can form; a supercell happens when upper-level wind causes the storm to spin. The supercell can grow very large as long as warm air continues to be sucked through the vortex away from the cool air. In the picture to the left, the supercell is above the funnel like shape of the tornado.

Tornadoes are very complex natural events. The tornado has to be the right size so that the tornado can release the rain at the precise amounts. If the tornado was too small the tornado would not produce enough heat to create a vacuum. The height from the ground is also a really important factor in the creation of a tornado. This is because the higher up the tornado is from the ground the more air the tornado will have rushing into it. These are just some of the many factors that have to be exactly perfect for a tornado to be naturally created and sustain the wind speed required for it to be a tornado.

     A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes can produce massive destruction with wind speeds of 250 miles per hour or more. The typical tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but they have been known to move in any direction. The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 miles per hour but it may vary from stationary to 70 miles per hour. Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, they are found most frequently in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries.

A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of two hundred and fifty miles per hour or more. Damage paths can be more than one mile wide and fifty miles long. In an average year, eight hundred tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in eighty deaths and over one thousand five hundred injuries. In the body of my essay, I will tell you about types of tornadoes, where tornadoes come from, where and when tornadoes occur, the damage they inflict, variations of tornadoes, and how to detect tornadoes.