Tornadoes form when thunderstorms (usually from a collision of air masses of different temperatures and/or dew points) encounter wind shear, which is when wind speed and/or direction change with altitude. This creates horizontally rolling air that can be tilted vertical by a thunderstorm updraft. The updraft takes on this rotation to become a mesocyclone. Under the right conditions this mesocyclone can tighten and intensify to form a tornado.
Se the links below for the formation of tropical and extratropical cyclones. Ignore the parts about mesocyclones and tornadoes as they technically are not cyclones.
Informally some people do call them cyclones, by this is technically incorrect. While they share some traits, tornadoes and cyclones are different types of weather pattern.
No, tornadoes are associated with cyclones and not anti-cyclones. Tornadoes typically form in association with severe thunderstorms within a cyclonic circulation pattern. Anti-cyclones are areas of high pressure with descending air, which are typically not conducive for tornado formation.
Ultimately, the two primary causes of tornadoes are convective instability, which leads to thunderstorms, and wind shear, which gives those storms the rotation they need to produce tornadoes.
A tornado in the southern hemisphere is still called a tornado.
The planet with tornadoes most frequently is Earth. Tornadoes are most common in the Central United States, known as Tornado Alley, where warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets cool, dry air from the Rocky Mountains, creating the perfect conditions for tornado formation.
Some cyclones produce tornadoes, but most do not.
Cyclones spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere.
Cyclones are far larger. Cyclones are hundreds of miles across while tornadoes are usually less than a quarter of a mile wide.
Informally some people do call them cyclones, by this is technically incorrect. While they share some traits, tornadoes and cyclones are different types of weather pattern.
No. Tornadoes and cyclones are different things. A cyclone is a large-scale low pressure system while a tornado is a small-scale vortex within a thunderstorm. Most cyclones are mid-latitude cyclones.
They are not. Tornadoes are much smaller than cyclones. A true cyclone is generally a few hundred miles across while tornadoes are rarely over a mile wide. Tornadoes are smaller because they form within individual thunderstorms while cyclones are their own weather systems.
No, tornadoes are associated with cyclones and not anti-cyclones. Tornadoes typically form in association with severe thunderstorms within a cyclonic circulation pattern. Anti-cyclones are areas of high pressure with descending air, which are typically not conducive for tornado formation.
yes
Yes. Oman can occasionally get tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones can produce tornadoes. That said, such tornadoes are usually weak, so tornadoes like the ones that devastate communities in the U.S. are unlikely.
No. All hurricanes and other tropical cyclones above tropical depression strength get named, however extratropical cyclones are not named. Tornadoes never get names.
Tornadoes, by a considerable amount.
No, tornadoes typically form in severe thunderstorms, not cyclones. Cyclones are large rotating weather systems that develop over warm ocean waters and can bring strong winds and rain, but tornadoes are more commonly associated with severe thunderstorms in a different type of weather system.