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Tornadoes
A tornado or twister is a violent, rotating column of air which typically has a speed ranging from 177 km/h to over 480 km/h. This devastating windstorm is usually characterized by its funnel-shaped cloud that extends toward the ground.
8,901 Questions
Why cant tornadoes happen in Australia?
Actually, tornadoes are not uncommon in Australia. which actually takes 3rd place in annual number of tornadoes, after the United States and Canada. However, about 80% of tornadoes, possibly higher in Australia, are only strong enough to cause mild to moderate damage.
How many tornadoes have touched down in Tennessee between 2000 and 2010?
From 2000 to 2010, 306 tornadoes touched down in Tennessee and another 5 touched down in other states and move into Tennessee.
What is the climate when tornadoes do form?
Tornadoes typically form in conditions where warm, moist air at the surface meets cool, dry air aloft. This creates instability in the atmosphere, which can lead to the development of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. High wind shear and a lifting mechanism, such as a cold front or dry line, are also important factors for tornado formation.
Why do tornadoes occur mainly in Texas?
Because Texas is so big. The most per sq 10,000 miles is Florida. Texas is 10th on that list. Texas gets tornadoes because Texas is near the Gulf of Mexico and it provides rich moisture. When a cold front comes through that moisture helps with instability needed for tornadoes.
Tornadoes rotate because of several principles of Hydromechanics operating at the same time. Hydromechanics is the branch of physics that deals with forces acting upon and within fluids. I'll explain it as simply as possible:
Inertia - If I throw a baseball, it will continue to go in a straight line forever until it hits something. This is Inertia. The air molecules are like trillions of little baseballs. Imagine millions of people throwing baseballs in one direction. And millions of others throwing baseballs in a different direction. This is kind of like Wind. But don't forget that wind has inertia too. This wind will continue on in one direction forever unless it hits another stream of wind or an object.
Ok so we have wind, why would it rotate?
Collision Mechanics - If you take two perfectly round bowling balls and roll them toward each other, they will collide and the two bowling balls will change direction on collision. Most likely they will not hit perfectly head-on so one ball will veer to the left and other will veer to the right. Think about the change in direction of one of the bowling balls. It was traveling in a straight line, then suddenly the ball veered off to the left. The bowling ball performed part of a rotation, it did part of a circle. Why did the bowling ball change direction? Because it hit the other bowling ball. This is the origin of the rotation for the tornado.
Ok so air molecules bounce off each other, wouldn't all the collisions just annihilate each other randomly?
Friction - If you take the palms of your hands and press them together and slide back and forth, you will feel resistance because of friction. If you place some pens in between your hands, the pen will ROTATE and there will be less friction. When one stream of wind collides with another stream of wind from another direction, rotation occurs, like the pencil, because of friction between the streams.
Ok, so there is spinning like the pencil, but why does the spout go vertical?
Minimization of low pressure area - The source of the low pressure comes from above, due to the collision/rotation of streams of wind. The tube of rotation begins horizontally, but changes into a vertical position because it minimizes the distance between the source of fuel for the tornado and the lowest resistance area to satisfy that vacuum. The ground has things like trees rocks, and trailers to slow down the vortex rotation. The area right above the ground is like a magnet for the tornado. The high pressure air at ground level is trying to get inside to the tornado. The best place to do this is at its point of least rotation: the ground where the air is slowed down due to trailers in the way.
Ok Genius! But why would the tornado stay spinning and actually SPEED UP after formation?
Centrifugal force - If you put 10 people on a merry go round and and have them hold on tight, and spin it fast, the people will feel a force pulling the people toward the center of the merry go round. The people on the merry go round do not fly away in a straight line because they grip onto the spinning disc. The tornado is like a Merri go round, and the rotating air molecules spin in a circle. The air molecules have a tendency to fly off in a straight line away from the vortex, but are held in place because of an exceptionally low air-pressure in the center of the vortex. The energy that fuels the tornado comes from the pressure differential between the inside and the outside of the tornado.
OK so the duality of forces, maintains the spin, why does it spin faster?
Conservation of angular momentum - If you stand up, and stretch your arms out to the side, and spin in place, and while spinning you pull your arms to your chest, you will find it difficult to pull your arms in because of Centrifugal force. However if you pull really hard, your body will suddenly rotate much faster because of the conservation of angular momentum. In the tornado, the air molecules (like your hands) want to travel in a circle, into the center because there is low pressure in there. There is a problem, the air molecules are traveling in a circle! So when the air molecule is pushed inward by other rude air molecules trying to get inside, the first molecule will rotate in a smaller circle at higher velocity. The low pressure inside the tornado receives more air, which causes the tornado to rotate faster.
What makes tornados so difficult to understand is that the principles that form them are not the same principles that maintain them.
Is the haboob tornado a tornado?
A haboob is a type of intense dust storm commonly experienced in arid regions, typically caused by downdrafts from thunderstorms. It is not a tornado, as haboobs are formed by different meteorological processes and do not exhibit the rotating column of air characteristic of tornadoes.
Yes, tornadoes do occur in India, especially in regions like West Bengal, Odisha, and parts of the Gangetic plains. These tornadoes are usually not as frequent or severe as those in the United States, but they still pose a threat to life and property.
Although tornadoes often have a structure that resembles the eye of a hurricane, this structure, called a weak echo hole is not the same as the eye of a hurricane.
Although the area surrounding the center does have violent winds even if the actual center does not, it is not called an eyewall.
How do you know whether a tornado is a boy or girl?
Hurricanes and tropical storms are named. They have to be tracked over several days, and sometimes there are more than one at a time. The names assist in the tracking. Tornadoes are more spontaneous. They form up and hit very quickly, therefore, they are not tracked for days before landing. This means they do not really need to be named, leaving them rather gender neutral.
In the United States, every year an alphabetical list of storm names are chosen in advance. The names alternate in gender. For example, in 2010 the first 4 names storms were Alex, Bonnie, Colin, and Danielle in order. As the storm forms, they are named for the next letter on the list. Most of the names can be recycled through the years. However, when a big event occurs, such as Hurricane Katrina, the name will be retired.
What technology is used for tornado warnings?
sirens in most urban and rural areas are often common to warned people about tornadoes but Doppler radar can be used to detect activity that can be tornadic then they either issued a tornado or severe thunderstorm watchbox along with a tornado warning inside
Why do tornadoes form in the afternoon?
Tornadoes typically form in the afternoon because that's when the atmosphere is most unstable due to daytime heating. This instability can lead to the development of thunderstorms, which are a key ingredient for tornado formation. Additionally, afternoon wind patterns help create the necessary conditions for tornadoes to develop.
Tornadoes most likely came from both the Spanish words Tormenta (meaning Thunderstorm) or Tornar (meaning To Turn)
Tornado development (called tornadogenesis) begins when differences in wind speed and/or direction at different altitudes, called vertical wind shear, creates horizontal vortices of air. These vortices can then be turned vertical by a thunderstorm updraft, which takes on this rotation to become a mesocyclone. Under the right conditions a downdraft can descend from th back of the storm and wrap around the mesocyclone, tightening and intensifying it. This smaller, stronger circulation is the tornado.
Why is it hard to predict a tornado?
Compared with other storms tornadoes are small and form quickly. This makes them difficult to track. Small factors that we can barely detect or can't detect can also affect a tornado. Furthermore tornadoes are not well understood by scientists and they are difficult to study. Their relatively small size and unpredictability makes it nearly impossible to take measurements from inside.
Where is the eye of a tornado?
The eye of a tornado is the calm, relatively clear center of the storm, surrounded by a rotating wall of wind and clouds called the eyewall. It forms in the center of the tornado vortex as air descends from aloft. It is typically small, usually less than 2 miles in diameter.
If you believe in God, then God made everything, right? By definition? But we understand very well where tornadoes come from; there's no reason to be invoking the supernatural for this or any other natural disaster.
Is the eye athe worst part of a tornado?
No, the eye of a tornado is actually the calmest part, with clear skies and no precipitation. The most dangerous part of a tornado is the wall cloud and the tornado itself, where the strongest winds and most damage occur.
What was the smallest tornado in the world?
The smallest tornado in the world would be classified as an EF0 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Tornadoes of this intensity have estimated wind speeds of 65-85 mph (105-137 km/h) and usually cause minor damage.
What time of day do tornadoes most often occur?
Tornadoes most often occur in the afternoon and early evening, typically between 3 pm and 9 pm, when atmospheric conditions are most favorable for their formation. However, they can occur at any time of day or night under the right conditions.
Where was the first tornado ever to occur?
It is impossible to say when the first ever tornado was, as they have been occurring since long before there were people around to record them. The first recorded tornad struck near Kilbeggan, Ireland on April 30th, 1054.
Do 75 percent of tornadoes form in the US of America?
75 percent of recorded tornadoes happen in the U.S. The U.S. probably has a much smaller percentage of the world's actual tornado count. This is because the U.S. keeps detailed records on the tornadoes that occur within its borders. Many other countries do not keep such records, and often only the most significant tornadoes are reported.
How tall and wide can tornadoes go up to?
Tornadoes can vary in size, with the typical width ranging from about 100 to 600 meters (330 to 2,000 feet) and the typical height reaching up to a few kilometers (1-2 miles) into the atmosphere. However, some particularly large and powerful tornadoes can be wider and taller, with widths over 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) and heights exceeding 10 kilometers (6 miles).
How do you read a fujita scale?
The Fujita scale is a scale of rating tornadoes based on the severity of the damage they cause. Below are the Fujita scale categories with corresponding wind estimates, followed by adjusted winds estimates for the Enhanced Fujita scale and typical damage.
The winds for the categories are only estimates associated with each degree of damage. In 2007 the Fujita scale was replaced by the Enhanced Fujita sclae in the U.S. Wind estimates were adjusted to what scientists believe are more accurate that the original estimates made in 1971.
- F0: 40-72 mph (EF0 65-85 mph), light damage, some shallow rooted trees toppled, tree branches snapped, some roof surface from houses (<20% ) removed.
- F1: 73-112 mph (EF1 86-110 mph), moderate damage, significant loss of roof surface (>20%), windows broken, trailers heavily damaged.
- F2: 113-157 mph (EF2 111-135 mph), significant damage, roofs torn from frame homes but most walls remain intact, cars tossed, trains derailed, trailers demolished.
- F3: 158-206 mph (EF3 136-165 mph), severe damage, roof and walls torn from frame homes, trains thrown, most trees uprooted.
- F4: 207-260 mph (EF4 166-200 mph), devastating damage, strong frame homes leveled to the ground, trees debarked
- F5: 261-318 mph (EF5 over 200 mph), incredible damage, strong frame homes disintegrate with foundations swept clean, car and even house sized objects thrown hundreds of yards.
What time of day do tornadoes usually occur and why?
Although they can occur at any time of day, tornadoes are most common in the late afternoon and early evening. This is when the lower atmosphere is usually the warmest and thus the atmosphere is usually the most unstable. These conditions are conducive for the formation of strong thunderstorms which, given a few other conditions, can produce tornadoes.
Most likely not.
The longest a tornado has been known to last was about 3.5 hours.
