Tornadoes

A low pressure system tracked across parts of Missouri and Arkansas, pulling in warm air from the south and cold air from the north. A powerful supercell thunderstorm formed in the warm air and tracked with the low pressure system fairly close to the center. The unusual nature of this track may have contributed to its unusually long life span.

The Fujita Scale rates tornadoes from F0 to F5 based on the severity of the damage they do.
F0 is the weakest but most common category. F0 damage includes missing shingles, broken tree limbs, trees with shallow roots uprooted, gutters taken down and some trailers overturned. About 55% of tornadoes are rated F0

F1, the next lowest category, is also the second most common. F1 damage includes severely stripped house roofs, severely damaged or mostly destroyed trailers, collapse porches and roofs, and broken windows. About 25% of tornadoes are rated F1

F2 is the beginning of what care called significant tornadoes. F2 damage includes roofs torn from frame houses, trailers completely demolished, and cars lifted. large amounts of debris may start to fly. About 15% of all tornadoes are rated F2.

F3 is the third strongest and third least common category of tornado. F3 damage includes many or most of the walls in a well-built home collapsed, sometimes with just a few left standing. Most trees will be uprooted. About 4% of tornadoes are rated F3.

F4 is the beginning of what are called violent tornadoes. F4 damage consisted of well-built houses completely leveled and left as piles of rubble and trees stripped of their bark. About 1% of tornadoes are rated F4.

F5 is the strongest and rarest category on the Fujita scale classified as incredible. F5 damage consists of well-built houses being swept clean off their foundations. Sometimes houses may be carried or thrown large distances. Pavement may be peeled from roads. Less than 0.1% of tornadoes are rated F5.

From 1950 to 2011 there were 56,221 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. of which 388 or 0.6% hit California. This figure may be somewhat skewed as for the first 30 years or so of this period the majority of tornadoes were missed.

Tornadoes can happen at any time of year but they are most common in sprind and early summer.

EF5 damage is total devastation.

Well constructed houses are wiped clean off their foundations and can be carried or thrown great distances. Virtually nothing can withstand the full force of an EF5. Even concrete structures are heavily damaged.

Tornadoes can vary greatly in size, with most being around 100-600m wide and staying on the ground for a few minutes to an hour. The largest tornadoes, known as "wedge" tornadoes, can be over 1 mile wide and stay on the ground for an extended period of time.

The tri- state tornado formed in Ellington Missouri, then moved to Illinois and Indiana. It killed 695 people, and is rated number 1 in the top 25 deadly twisters.

Greensburg, Kansas was struck by an EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007.

The first recorded tornado was reported in 1054 in the Delta of the Nile, Egypt. Tornadoes can occur worldwide, with the central United States known as Tornado Alley experiencing the most frequent tornado activity.

As of April 27, 2014, there is an ongoing tornado outbreak. Tornadoes have ocurred in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Reports indicate a tornado in Quapaw, Oklahoma is reported to have killed 2 people.

A large, destructive tornado caused major damage in Mayflower and Vilonia, Arkansas, with unconfirmed reports of fatalities. It will probably be a few days before all the tornadoes are accounted for.

On April 25, an EF3 tornado killed an infant near Chocowinty, North Carolina.

The Tri-State tornado had a path of 219 miles long and 3/4 mile to 1 mile wide across 3 states and numerous mining towns.

A wall cloud is typically associated with severe weather events such as tornadoes, making it more dangerous than a bubble cloud which is harmless and mainly a result of condensation. Wall clouds are characterized by rotating updrafts and are often found in supercell thunderstorms, indicating the potential for severe weather. Bubble clouds are usually small and puffy with no significant weather implications.

There are many ways in which tornadoes can differ.

They can differ in wind speed, winds may range from 65 mph to over 300 mph, though the lower wind ranges are more common.

They can differ in diameter, ranging from less than 10 yards wide, to the record size of 2.5 miles.

Distance traveled can range from several yards to over 200 miles (the record is 219 miles).

Tornadoes can range from being nearly stationary to traveling at over 70 mph.

Tornadoes differ in how long they last, ranging from a few seconds to over 3 hours.

Tornadoes can even differ in structure. Some tornadoes are a simple single vortex while others have a downdraft moving down the center, this can produce multiple smaller vorticies within the funnel.

All of these factors combined with where and when a tornado hits influences how much damage occurs and how many deaths and injuries there are.

You should not be in the car. A car is a dangerous place to be if there is a tornado. If a tornado is coming, dry to get out of its path by driving at a right angle to its motion, or at least as close to one as the roads will allow.

If you are unsure of your ability to escape, get out of the car and lie in a ditch or depression.

Tornadoes nearly always spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere with the exception of about 1% which are called anticyclonic tornadoes.

Tornado season begins in March and ends in July. April is historically the deadliest month, although May has more tornadoes.

However, tornadoes hit the U.s. in all months. Tornado season is simply more active.

Yes, they can but they usually dissipate rapidly when they do.

The first tornado of 2006 did not have a specific name assigned to it. Tornadoes are usually identified by the location and date of occurrence rather than being given individual names.

The anvil is not actually part of a tornado. it is part of the storm that produces a tornado. Inside a thunderstorm moist air rises as long as it is warmer than its surroundings. However, when the rising cloud of the thunderstorm reaches a comparatively warm layers such as at the top of the troposphere it cannot rise any more, and will spread out, forming a wide, flat top to the storm cloud. This flat top is the anvil.

Any state in the us can have a semi tornado. Arizona doesn't typically get tornadoes but it is possible. The biggest tornadoes occur in states such as Texas Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska missuri and Arkansas

Tornadoes in the U.S. form mostly in the same way as they do in other parts of the world.

Tornadoes need thunderstorms to form, the stronger the better. Most tornadic thunderstorms in the U.S. form when warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cooler air form Canada and dry air from the Rockies. These thunderstorms then encounter wind shear (changes in the wind speed and direction with altitude) which starts them rotating. A final factor is a layer of stable air often called a cap. This cap holds back storm formation, allowing instability to build until finally some very powerful storms break through it. Tornadoes may also form in the outer bands of hurricanes, which produce wind shear when they hit land.

Tornado formation is similar in other regions, but the conditions are rarely as ideal as they are in the central U.S.

Tornadoes can form almost anywhere, but some areas get them far more often than others. Some locations, such as Tanner, Alabama have been hit multiple times.

There are six levels on the Enhanced Fujita scale ranging from EF0 to EF5.

It varies widely. Some tornadoes stay in open fields and cause not damage. Weak tornadoes (EF0 or EF1) cause minor to moderate damage, damaging roofs, breaking windows, and overturning trailers.

The most violent tornadoes (EF4 or EF5) are devastating. Well built houses are completely demolished. In some cases entire neighborhoods can be flattened. Damage can be in the hundreds of millions of dollars with some exceeding $1 billion.

Yes, most notably the northwest area of Pennsylvania saw an unusually high number of tornadoes. Among these tornadoes was an EF0 tornado that struck Presque Isle State Park near Erie on June 27.