Tornadoes

A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. It is often visible in the form of a funnel-shaped cloud and is capable of causing significant damage due to its strong winds. Tornadoes are classified based on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, which ranks them from EF0 to EF5 based on the damage they produce.

It doesn't: that is a myth.

The idea stems from the fact that the pressure inside a tornado is very low and the higher pressure inside a house will cause it to explode unless windows are open to relive pressure.

The truth is that the winds and debris of a tornado are what cause damage, not the pressure difference. Even in a relatively weak tornado that will cause only moderate damage the windows are likely to break anyway. In fact, in the case of a weak tornado or indirect hit that would not break windows, leaving them open allows strong winds to enter the house and cause damage on the inside.

The pressure drop in a tornado is not great enough to cause damage and even then, houses are not airtight, and pressure can equalize on its own fairly quickly. The greatest pressure drops come in the strongest tornadoes, which can easily tear apart a house with their winds regardless of any pressure difference within the structure.

Most tornadoes are produced by and get their energy from thunderstorms called supercells. However, no storm actually creates energy; that would violate the laws of physics. The storms get their energy from warm, moist air that has been heated by the sun.

tornadoes can be stationary, or travel in excess of 65 miles per hour. It all depends on how fast the parent storm is moving.

Usually less than five minutes and often just a few seconds. Strong tornadoes can last for over 20 minutes, sometimes over an hour. The longest a tornado has been known to last was three and a half hours.

This goes back to when the original Fujita or "F" scale developed in 1971. Back then Dr. Fujita developed a means of rating the strength of tornado, in this scale he described 6 basic damage levels (mostly based on damage to houses) from F0 to F5 with accompanying wind speed ranges. Simplified, they are as follows

F0: minor roof and siding damage

F1: severe roof damage

F2: roof torn off

F3: walls collapse

F4: entire house collapses

F5: entire house blown away

Fujita also defined wind values for levels F6 to F12 to correlate wind speed with mach number, but since F5 (complete destruction) is the most severe damage possible these levels were never used, leaving F5 as the highest real rating. The reason the damage levels were defined as F0 to F5 rather than F1 to F6 was likely for two reasons: F0 winds were set at below hurricane force, and our number system is partially based on 5.

When the Enhanced Fujita scale was put into effect in 2007 it carried over essentially the same ratings and damage levels with adjusted wind ranges. Since the F6 and higher ratings were never used, they were simply dropped without a mention.

So if you find that a tornado has been officially rated EF5, it means that well-built structures were completely obliterated.

There is no evidence to suggest that tornadoes are more prevalent near wind farms. Tornadoes are formed by specific atmospheric conditions such as warm, moist air interacting with cold, dry air, whereas wind farms are designed to harness wind energy and do not influence tornado formation.

You would need water and a few drops of dish soap to create a tornado in a bottle. The soap helps to reduce the surface tension of the water, allowing the vortex to form more easily when the bottle is swirled.

Winds in a EF5 tornado, the highest category on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, can exceed 200 mph (322 km/h) and cause catastrophic damage. These powerful winds can destroy well-built houses, uproot trees, and turn cars into projectiles.

Warm fronts play a can major role in many severe weather events. They often bring several key ingredients with them including lift and moisture. Although they are not totally necessary for tornado development, they do play a major role in a substantial number of tornadic events.

However, warm fronts are typically cause simple rain shows rather than severe weather of any sort.

Tornadoes and other forms of severe weather occur more often with cold fronts.

No, purple lightning does not indicate that a tornado is coming. Lightning can appear purple due to atmospheric conditions, but it is not directly linked to tornadoes. Tornadoes are typically indicated by dark, swirling clouds and severe weather patterns.

A shelf cloud is produce by thunderstorm outflow, resulting from rain cooled air being force downward and outward in a thunderstorm. A shelf cloud may indicate that strong straight-line winds are coming

A wall cloud is found in the mesocyclone, or rotating updraft of a type of thunderstorm called a supercell. This is an indicator that a tornado may soon form.

A tornado is itself a vortex of wind. Aside from that, wind does play a role in tornado development. Many scientists believe that one of the final stages of tornado development involves a downdraft, or downward movement of air, reaching the ground near the back of a thunderstorm and wrapping around an already existing rotation called a mesocyclone. This circulation then tightens and intensifies to form a tornado.

Not that while wind can create small vortices as it interacts with buildings and vegetation, these are not considered tornadoes.

Doppler radar is able to measure wind speed within a storm. If the radar detects a small portion of a storm with strong winds traveling in opposite direction, it means there is intense rotation which may be a precursor to the tornado or even the tornado itself. This can allow us to see a tornado ahead of time and warn people so they can get to safety.

Some mobile doppler radar can yield high resolution data from within the tornado itself, allowing us to learn more about its internal dynamics and how tornadoes work.

Yes. If a tornadic vortex does not make contact with the ground it does not meet the defintion of a tornado, and is simply called a funnel cloud. If the violent circulation (not necessarily the visible funnel) reaches the ground it is considered a tornado.

A tornado is a type of wind storm characterized by a rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes are usually associated with strong and damaging winds that can reach speeds exceeding 200 mph, causing widespread destruction in their path.

Tornadoes are related to air pressure through the imbalance of pressure between warm and cold air masses. When warm, moist air rises and encounters cooler air, it can create a low-pressure system that can intensify and lead to the formation of tornadoes, as the imbalance seeks to equalize by creating powerful winds and rotating columns of air.

In excess of 200 mph at the peak, possibly as high as 250 mph.

It depends on how well-built the house is. According to the Enhanced Fujita scale it takes winds of about 150 mph (EF3) to reach the level of "most walls collapsed, except small interior rooms" for a well-built house and a 170 mph (EF4) wind to have "all walls collapsed."

When two tornadoes combine, it is known as a tornado outbreak. The resulting tornado can become larger, stronger, and more destructive as it merges with the energy and circulation of the other tornado. The combined tornado can create a wider path of destruction and pose an increased threat to affected areas.

Meteorologists typically infer a tornado's wind speed by analyzing the damage left behind, using the Fujita scale to categorize the intensity of the tornado. They may also use Doppler radar to estimate wind speeds by looking at the rotation of the tornado. Additionally, researchers sometimes deploy mobile instruments like weather balloons or sticknets into tornadoes to directly measure wind speeds.

They don't. Hurricanes lose strength as they pass over land. This is because their gain their energy from the moisture that evaporates off warm ocean water. When a hurricane strikes land it is cut off from this energy source.

The Smithville, Mississippi tornado had estimated peak winds of 205 mph (though some analysis indicates far stronger winds), earning it a rating of EF5.

There are two main factors in this. First, some regions, such as the Great Plains, and the South, tend to get a lot of tornadoes, so it is easy for the same area to be hit a few times. The other part of it is simply bad luck. If a place can be hit once, it can be hit again; the "lightning never strikes twice" rule doesn't really work.

Fire whirls work in a manner somewhat similar to dust devils. The intense heat produced by a fire will always generate an updraft. As air flows into the fire it may gain some spin as it interacts with vegetation and topography. This spin can then be taken on by the updraft, producing a vortex of smoke and flames.