Tornadoes

There were a number of tornadoes in 1925, but presumably mean the Tri-State tornado. The damage from this tornado was catastrophic. It was an F5, and maintained F4 to F5 intensity along almost its entire path. This means that in places well-constructed houses were completely blown off their foundations, and in many others they were left as piles of rubble. The tornado struck numerous towns, completely destroying some of them. It is estimated that 15,000 homes were destroyed.

As it is during most tornadoes, fear was probably the predominant emotion. Experiencing a tornado was just as terrifying then as it is now.

In the U.S. tornado warnings are issued by local offices of the National Weather Service.

It was the deadliest tornado in history with a death toll of over 1300.

The Xenia, Ohio tornado of 1974 killed 32 people directly. Two others died from indirect effects of the tornado.

Joplin has been affected by 11 tornadoes since record began in 1950. This works out to an average of about 1 tornado every 6 years. Most are of EF0 or EF1 intensity.

Fujita released the scale in 1971, but much of the development was based on a detailed survey of the Lubbock, Texas tornado of 1970.

There are 13 states that fit this criterion:

Kansas (95 tornadoes per year)

Oklahoma (65)

Florida (63)

Nebraska (56)

Illinois (53)

Colorado (49)

Iowa (48)

Missouri (46)

Alabama (45)

Mississippi (45)

Minnesota (43)

Arkansas (40)

Louisiana (38)

Note that these are only averages. The number of tornadoes in a state in any given year can vary greatly.

There is no way of knowing. The farther back you go, the less reliable records become. Accounts from before 1950 are pretty incomplete, and reliable accounts from before 1880 or so are few and far between. There are no reliable accounts of any tornado-related deaths in the United States in 1800, though it is likely that deaths occurred somewhere.

Since tornadoes are a form of weather, they would be predicted by a meteorologist.

No. The description of hot and cold air coming together is based on an oversimplified scenario often given by the media. A collision of hot and cold air simply results in a front. Fronts, particularly cold fronts where cold air pushes away warm air, often result in stormy weather, but the nature of those storms depends on other conditions. In the summer cold fronts often bring thunderstorms, which may be severe. If the storms are strong enough and the winds are configured in the right way, then some of them might produce tornadoes.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, organizes relief for tornadoes and other disasters. However, much relief is also provided by non-government organizations such as the Red Cross.

The mesocyclone developed from horizontally rolling air that get caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm and turned vertical.

Severe thunderstorms

You don't pack when a tornado is coming; you take cover immediately. You don't have time like you do with a hurricane.

We do not know. The Natchez tornado was in 1840, and it is hard to get reliable information from records that old. The tornado itself was probably an F4 or F5, which would put wind speeds in the range of 200 mph or more, but that does not indicate anything about how fast the tornado itself moved.

There are a couple ways in which a tornado can form, both involving the updraft of a thunderstorm. In the classic model of tornado formation, the updraft of the thunderstorm starts rotating due to interaction with wind shear (differences in wind speed and direction with altitude) and may be influenced by the general rotation of the parent storm system. The tornado then develops from this rotating updraft.

In the other model, by which landspouts and most waterspouts form, a broad-level circulation at the ground gets caught in the updraft of a developing thunderstorm, becoming narrower and more intense.

There is no exact year in which they were invented. The practice developed gradually through the 1940s and 1950s.

The fuel of a tornado is the warm, moist air that powers its parent thunderstorm.

Wind. A tornado is a type of violent windstorm.

However tornadoes can form over bodies of water. When that happens they are called waterspouts.

Tornadoes can cause a localized disruption to transportation. Debris and downed trees may block roads and railroad tracks. Tornadoes can blow cars and trucks off roads and derail trains. Some very strong tornadoes can directly damage transportation infrastructure, stripping asphalt from roads and destroying some bridges.

Yes. This is the most tornado-prone region in the world.

Tornadoes start as a funnel cloud, becoming a tornado when they reach the ground.