Tornadoes

Tornadoes can have local effects on weather by causing rapid changes in temperature, pressure, and wind patterns. They can also influence the formation of severe thunderstorms and intense rainfall in the surrounding areas. Additionally, tornadoes can disrupt atmospheric stability and lead to further development of storms.

Yes, tornadoes can happen in Connecticut, but they are relatively rare compared to states in the central United States. The state typically experiences a few tornadoes each year, with the majority being of the weaker EF0 or EF1 category.

Multiple tornadoes can form at the same time during a severe weather event, especially in outbreaks or supercell thunderstorms. The exact number of tornadoes that can form simultaneously can vary, but it is not uncommon for several tornadoes to be observed in the same area or region at once.

The first recorded tornado in the United States struck on May 15, 1752, in what is now the state of Virginia. Tornadoes have been known to occur long before then, but that is the earliest officially documented tornado in the United States.

A tornado is typically associated with severe weather conditions, including strong winds, heavy rain or hail, and thunderstorms. Tornadoes can also produce intense rotation and funnel clouds, leading to widespread destruction and devastation in their path.

You're joking right? In case not, it's called an erection as well as many colloquialisms.

Yes, India does experience tornadoes, although they are relatively rare compared to countries like the United States. Tornadoes in India are most common in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh during the late spring and early autumn.

Yes. I've seen two in the last three years or so - the second one just a few minutes ago. I have seen many "dust devils" over the past 20 years, but I did not think Kenya had actual tornados until I saw one a few years ago in the great Rift Valley. Today (May 21, 2012), I saw a much bigger stronger one. It did not appear to be hitting homes. I hope not anyway.

It varies widely depending in part on strength. On researcher calculated that the median path length for U.S. tornadoes from 1950 to 1982 was just under 1 mile, which works out to a duration of just under 2 minutes (assuming an average speed of 30 mph).
However, the median if calculated today would probably be better documented as we have improved in our ability to find the weaker, shorter lived tornadoes.
Very destructive tornadoes. Median duration varies with intensity, ranging from 45 seconds for F0 tornadoes to 47 minutes for F5 tornadoes. Furthermore, these figures are only medians, and values can vary significantly either way. Brief touch downs have been observed to have lasted as little as 10 seconds while the longest duration on record was 3 hours and 29 minutes. For strong tornadoes durations of 10 to 20 minutes are not uncommon, with violent tornadoes being in the range of 20 minutes to an hour.

Yes, a tornado is defined as a rotating column of air reaching the ground from a cumulonimbus cloud. If it does not touch the ground, it is technically considered a funnel cloud. Tornadoes that do not touch down are typically not as damaging as those that do.

Tornadoes are made from a combination of warm, moist air near the ground and cool, dry air at higher altitudes. When these air masses collide, it can create the necessary conditions for a tornado to form, resulting in a rapidly rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.

Many tornadoes in Florida start as waterspouts, which develop when the ocean water is warmer than the air above it, triggering updrafts that, under the right conditions, can start rotating.

Tornadoes can also form by typical tornadogenesis, which is outlined in the related question.

A sandstorm with rotating winds is often called a "dust devil." Dust devils are smaller in scale compared to tornadoes and are typically formed in arid regions with loose sediments like sand or dust.

Yes, just tonight, in fact (1/21/10):

"SR 101 between Scottsdale and Hayden Road. A Tornado is reported having touched down in Desert Ridge area near SR 101 and Hayden Road according to National Weather Service. Evacuation of Barrett Jackson event reported by Scottsdale PD."

Tornadoes can form in many different towns and locations around the world, but they are most common in a region known as Tornado Alley in the central United States, which includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. However, tornadoes can occur in many other regions as well, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia.

Signs of an approaching tornado include dark, often greenish skies; large, low-lying clouds; a sudden increase in wind or a change in wind direction; and a loud, continuous roar similar to a freight train. It is important to seek shelter immediately when these signs are observed.

A funnel cloud is a rotating cloud that extends downward from a thunderstorm, while a tornado is a funnel cloud that has touched the ground. In other words, all tornadoes start as funnel clouds, but not all funnel clouds develop into tornadoes.

They are not alive, and thus cannot see you.

Warren Faidley became interested in storms when he was a child. When he was 8 years old and possibly younger he would go after unusual weather in his hometown including dust devils and at least one flash flood.

yes, to a limited degree. By using tools like Doppler radar meteorologists can predict approximately where and when a tornado is likely to occur.

Still, even with a combination of radar and weather spotters we cannot predict the exact path a tornado will take with certainty.

A hurricane and a tornado can't exactly collide as they operate on entirely different scales. A hurricane is its own storm system typically several hundred miles wide while a tornado is a relatively small scale vortex usually no more than a few thousand feet wide and is dependent on a parent thunderstorm. In fact it is fairly common for the storms in the outer bands of a hurricane to produce tornadoes.

No.

Most tornadoes in the northern hemisphere spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere.

Most southern hemisphere tornadoes spin clockwise.

There are also anticyclonic tornadoes, which spin in the opposite direction than is normal for their hemispheres. Only about .1% to 1% of tornadoes are anticyclonic.

Tornadoes cannot change the shape of the land.

Yes. A tornado is often visible as a funnel cloud as it develops.

They don't. The US has 40 times the number of tornadoes that England has, and they tend to be much more intense- less than 10% of English tornadoes are strong, 42% of US tornadoes are strong storms.