Tornadoes Essay

On the afternoon of April 14, 1886, the city of Sauk Rapids in Minnesota was nearly wiped out after a tornado had struck the city. The whole city was left in complete devastation. Natural disasters have always interested me, specifically tornadoes. Something about tornadoes, whether it’d be how they form or how they acquire their power to cause great destruction, interests me to learn more about tornadoes. This led me to research about tornadoes in Minnesota. As I began surfing the internet about tornadoes that occurred in Minnesota, I came across the effects that each tornado had caused to the areas that it had struck. This is where I discovered the effects of one particular tornado called the Sauk Rapids Tornado. As I looked at the

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.

An Ef-5 tornado is one that causes “Incredible damage. Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters (109 yds); trees debarked; incredible phenomena will occur” (NOAA, 2011).

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

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.

Although the world is devastated by many natural disasters, the United States are known for their severe, annual destructive tornadoes. A tornado can reach 300 miles per hour and has a funnel-shaped cloud (“11 Facts About Tornadoes”). The way to know if a tornado is forming is if there is hail, a dark or greenish sky, a low lying cloud (possibly rotating), or a loud roar similar to a freight train (“Tornado Facts And History”).

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.

Each tornado differs, but they do have some common patterns to their travel and types of damage, which allow for a set of general predictions and precautions. In the interest of the preservation of life and property and to reduce the destructive effect of tornado pressures and flying debris, we have developed the following procedure.

Tornadoes come in a very vast variety sizes and shapes. The most common shape of a large tornado is the shape of a funnel. This type of tornado funnel is called a condensation funnel.

Experts once thought tornado winds exceeded 500 miles per hour. Research in recent years, however, has shown that winds rarely exceed 250 miles per hour and most tornadoes have winds of less 112 miles per hour. An average tornado will be 400 to 500 feet wide and travel four and five miles on the ground, lasting only a few minutes. A mile-wide tornado is extremely large, and tornadoes like these are very rare. Many tornadoes are small, less than 100 feet wide, and last only a few minutes. A few monster tornadoes are a mile wide or larger, and can last for an hour or more. Tornadoes are measured by the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale. They range anywhere from a F-0, being the weakest to a F-5 being the strongest.

In the area of, Ashford University and Clinton Iowa, tornadoes can occur at any time, but primarily occur between the months of April through October. Tornadoes can be the most brutal of storms. Winds speeds can reach speeds nearing 300 miles per hour and can destroy anything in its path. Tornadoes form rapidly and can travel for miles along the ground and lift up from the ground, and then suddenly change directions and touchdown again! There is little you can do to protect your property from a direct hit by a tornado; however, many actions can be taken to protect you and your family.

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

There are many types of tornadoes. The average tornado is usually split up into categories based on the