Tornadoes: Formation, Classification, and Warnings
GEG 1001-01
Christy Williams
Jeff Fesperman
November 12, 2016
Many people seem to think of great danger and destruction when they think of Tornadoes. However, in the past hundred years, technology has made it possible for meteorologists to predict and detect tornadoes. Modern people in the United States are very well educated about this dangerous phenomenon, which helps to reduce the risks of injury and death. The formation of a tornado has several factors and is a complex system. The Fujita scale is what is used to classify and categorize tornadoes. Tornadoes can be very dangerous, however, knowing the cause, how they are classified, and what precautions to take can drastically reduce the risk of injury.
The cause of tornadoes has several factors including formation and weather conditions. First off, the development of a tornado starts off as a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm is a fairly general and commonly occurring weather phenomenon. However tornadoes are not as common, they are formed by a vertical column that extends from the base of a cloud, which also has to be spinning, which forms a vortex creating what the average human knows as a funnel cloud (Brodie). Most people learned about the formation of a funnel cloud at a young age, most often children are taught about this through using a common object. More often than not it is a water bottle, and in this demonstration, one will spin or shake the water bottle
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.
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 Meterology, 2011). The Tri-state tornado was the most deadly 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. <Add thesis>
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
When tornadoes do form; such places as the National Weather Service (2014) classify tornadoes into three categories. These categories are weak, strong, and violent. “
Some tornado specifics can be interesting, some can be boring but these are the fascinating ones. There is a part of land in the Midwestern U.s where more than 1,000 tornadoes form. Most tornadoes only stay on the ground for less than five minutes and some tornadoes stand still while others can go on devastating speeds. The destruction tornadoes make is mostly from the debris that it picks up. More than half of tornadoes are weak and don’t cause many
Tornadoes can tear apart buildings, cars, forests, and can kill numerous people. In the U.S. alone, tornadoes cause 70 fatalities and 1,500 injuries on average annually (“Tornado Facts And History”). A tornado swept through Yellowstone in the late 1980’s which left a path of destruction up and down a 10,000-foot mountain (“Tornado Facts”).
The Joplin, Missouri Tornado included many details common to Tornadoes. All Tornadoes are created by a series of rotating air from thunderstorms. Once a lot a rotating air combines a funnel cloud starts to form from underneath
May 3rd, 1999 is day that bore witness to one of the strongest spectacles of weather that mankind has ever seen. The storm is one of the largest, and deadliest, tornados in history. The definition of a tornado is "a mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system". A tornado is rated on a Fujita-Pearson scale which takes into account, overall damage reports, ground swirl patterns, as well as eyewitness and media accounts of the
Tornadoes make full use of the element of surprise. They seemingly form out of nowhere, varying greatly in size, strength, agility and speed, unpredictably destroying some or all of life’s most prized possessions, including the most precious of all – life. Leaving in their wake only remnants of physical memories carelessly scattered about. Living in “Tornado Alley” or any other tornado prone region is at times a leap of faith which only Mother Nature controls, yet societally this is an excepted risk. We have many advantages over our predecessors; statistic and evidence based weather forecasting improvements, radar, satellite imaging, warning and alert systems of various kinds, field Storm Spotters and Chasers documenting these magnificent wonders. However, we still professedly fail to convincingly communicate the dangers of these destructive beasts.
Before a tornado hits you should have a ready kit such as a weather radio, batteries, snacks, and flashlights and have a communication plan with your family. You should also be aware of the radio, or newscasts for information. Be on alert for any change in the weather and danger signs such as dark, often green sky, large hail, a large low-laying cloud especially if it rotates and loud roaring sounds. Be prepared to take immediate cover (ready.gov). It is suggested we know the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means to be aware of any possible threats of a tornado and a warning means to take cover immediately. During a tornado people, should seek shelter away from window, doors, outside walls and be on the lowest level possible such as a basement. It is recommended to cover your head. If you are caught outside you should lie in a noticeably lower level of the road way, or get inside the vehicle and buckle up. After the storm, you should be aware of the media and stay away from any down power lines. If you are trapped, you should tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Although no one knows when a tornado may hit, we should be aware and
A tornado causes a lot of destructions! It can lift cars, level houses, and fling them 100 yards away! The deadliest outbreak came on April 3, 1974, when a two- day “Super Outbreak” of 147 tornadoes killed 308 people in 13 states.
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.
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
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.