Most winds on earth are produced by pressure differences. The greater the pressure change over a given distance, the greater the wind speed. Tornadoes produce a large pressure drop over a very short distance, resulting in extremely high winds.
Scientists usually use the severity of the damage a tornado causes to estimate its wind speed.
Scientists use the severity of damage that a tornado causes to estimate wind speed.
In terms of how fast a tornado is moving, the tornado is tracked on radar. The forward speed is calculated based on how far it moves in a given period of time. The wind speed of a tornado is estimated based on the severity of the damage it causes.
Wind speed in a tornado is usually estimated using the damage caused by the tornado's winds and the Fujita scale, which categorizes tornadoes based on their intensity. Meteorologists may also use Doppler radar data to estimate wind speeds within a tornado. Direct measurement of wind speed in a tornado is rare due to the dangerous and unpredictable nature of tornadoes.
Wind shear is a tornado-creating ingredient that causes the air to rotate. Wind shear is the change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere, creating a twisting motion in the air. This rotation can then be intensified by other factors to form a tornado.
A tornado's strength is not determined by the size of its eye. The eye of a tornado is typically small and calm, surrounded by a larger area of intense winds known as the eyewall. The strength of a tornado is measured by its wind speed and the amount of damage it causes, not by the size of its eye.
Tornadoes don't exactly split, but there are multiple vortex tornadoes. A multiple vortex tornado may appear to be composed of several smaller tornadoes but is still in fact one tornado. The process by which this happens is not fully understood, but it begins when a downdraft is forced down the center of the tornado, widening it. If the tornado has the right ratio of rotational speed to vertical speed it can develop a multiple vortex structure.
It is useful to know the wind speed of a tornado because it provides an understanding of tornado intensity and dynamics. It is important to know the forwards peed of a tornado because that is needed to know when a tornado might reach a location in its path.
The largest tornado ever recorded was the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado of May 31, 2013. This tornado was 2.6 miles wide. Doppler radar measured a wind gust in the tornado at 296 mph, the second highest wind speed ever recorded in a tornado.
The Tornado's max speed is 1,490 mph
The speed and direction of a tornado can be determined using Doppler radar by measuring how far the tornado moves between sweeps and in what direction.
Tornado damaged is caused by a tornado's powerful winds and objects carried y those winds.