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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
What is the source of tornadoes?
Most tornadoes from supercells follow a recognizable life cycle. That begins when increasing rainfall drags with it an area of quickly descending air known as the rear flank downdraft (RFD). This downdraft accelerates as it approaches the ground, and drags the supercell's rotating mesocyclone towards the ground with it. FormationAs the mesocyclone approaches the ground, a visible condensation funnel appears to descend from the base of the storm, often from a rotating wall cloud. As the funnel descends, the RFD also reaches the ground, creating a gust front that can cause damage a good distance from the tornado. Usually, the funnel cloud becomes a tornado within minutes of the RFD reaching the ground. MaturityInitially, the tornado has a good source of warm, moist inflow to power it, so it grows until it reaches the "mature stage". This can last anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour, and during that time a tornado often causes the most damage, and in rare cases can be more than one mile (1.6 km) across. Meanwhile, the RFD, now an area of cool surface winds, begins to wrap around the tornado, cutting off the inflow of warm air which feeds the tornado. DemiseAs the RFD completely wraps around and chokes off the tornado's air supply, the vortex begins to weaken, and become thin and rope-like. This is the "dissipating stage"; often lasting no more than a few minutes, after which the tornado fizzles. During this stage the shape of the tornado becomes highly influenced by the winds of the parent storm, and can be blown into fantastic patterns. Even though the tornado is dissipating, the tornado is still capable of causing damage. The storm is contracting into a rope-like tube and, like the ice skater who pulls her arms in to spin faster, winds can increase at this point.
As the tornado enters the dissipating stage, its associated mesocyclone often weakens as well, as the rear flank downdraft cuts off the inflow powering it. In particularly intense supercells tornadoes can develop cyclically. As the first mesocyclone and associated tornado dissipate, the storm's inflow may be concentrated into a new area closer to the center of the storm. If a new mesocyclone develops, the cycle may start again, producing one or more new tornadoes. Occasionally, the old (occluded) mesocyclone and the new mesocyclone produce a tornado at the same time.
Though this is a widely accepted theory for how most tornadoes form, live, and die, it does not explain the formation of smaller tornadoes, such as landspouts, long-lived tornadoes, or tornadoes with multiple vortices. These each have different mechanisms which influence their development-however, most tornadoes follow a pattern similar to this one.
2 types of air masses that form a tornado?
Most often a warm, moist air mass collides with a cool air mass, a cold air mass, or both. However, such a collision alone will only form thunderstorms. Other factors are needed for those storms to produce tornadoes.
Where do tornadoes mostly occur at?
Tornadoes mostly form over Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and other states along Tornado Alley, although they can happen almost anywhere on land. Tornadoes can also form on water, which are called waterspouts.
tornado in Latin is turbo turbis with a macron over the "o". turbo is a masculine 2nd declension noun
Where does cold air come from that produces a tornado?
The thunderstorms that produce tornadoes often form along cold fronts, when a old air mass pushes into a warm air mass. The cold front develops when a low pressure system (which rotates counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere) pulls cold air from the north. For U.S. storm systems this cold air is pulled down from Canada.
Where are most of the tornadoes formed in a severe thunderstorm?
Usually tornadoes are found in the southwest quadrant of the thunderstorm, which is the updraft portion, usually at the back of the storm.
Tornadoes often form from a type of cumulonimbus cloud called a?
Cumulonimbus incus, which has an obvious anvil top. Only very strong ones, called supercells, spawn tornadoes.
Cumulonimbus icnus is the most likely type of storm cloud to produce a tornado. These cumulonimbus clouds are often supercells.
Tornadoes can form from any cumulonimbus cloud, but they usually form from Cumulonimbus incus (heaped rain cloud with anvil) with a rotating updraft called a mesocyclone. The type of storm this rotating cumulonimbus cloud brings is a strong thunderstorm called a supercell, the thunderstorm most likely to form a tornado
cumulonimbus clouds
Why are tornadoes considered severe weather?
Tornadoes are considered severe weather because they are capable of causing significant damage and posing a serious threat to life and property. They can produce extremely strong winds, large hail, and heavy rainfall that can result in destruction of buildings, uprooting of trees, and disrupting transportation and communication systems. The unpredictable nature of tornadoes makes them particularly dangerous for those in their path.
Tornadoes usually last only a few minutes, some only for seconds. However, a few tornadoes can go for a couple of hours.
Do high level clouds produce hail and tornadoes?
High level clouds, such as cirrus clouds, typically do not produce hail or tornadoes. Hail and tornadoes are more commonly associated with severe thunderstorms that develop from cumulonimbus clouds, which are characterized by their towering vertical structure. These types of storms have strong updrafts and downdrafts that are conducive to the formation of hail and tornadoes.
What layer of the atmosphere are alto-stratus clouds in?
Altostratus clouds are found in the middle layer of the atmosphere known as the altocumulus layer, typically between 6,500 to 20,000 feet. They are thin, gray clouds that often cover the sky and can sometimes produce light precipitation.
It depends on the intensity of the tornado. For the weakest and most common category, EF0 there isn't much that it can destroy.
For an EF5, there is little that can survive except structures that are designed with EF5 tornadoes in mind. These include closet-sized shelters than can be installed in homes and the reactors of nuclear power plants.
How big is a super cell tornado?
There is no given size. Most are fairly small (in weather terms) ranging between 50 and 200 yards wide. However occasionally these tornadoes can grow to over a mile wide with some exceeding 2 miles.
Where is it likely to form a tornado?
The most likely place in the whole world is a place called the Tornado Alley. It is located down the middle of the United Sates, and the states that are included in the Tornado Alley are Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and such.
How does a tornado form ?
.1 Wind shear
Wind at different speed and directions with changing altitude make something called wind shear, which can start thunderstorms spinning.
2. Spinning
It will eventually spin faster and the higher speed will be the bottom of it .
.3 Tornadogenesis
A downdraft triggered by this intensification of the bottom of the rotation tightens the circulation and extends it toward the ground, forming a tornado.
What is the life span of a tornado?
The lifespan of a tornado varies greatly and can last from a few seconds to over an hour. The majority of tornadoes last less than 10 minutes, but some long-track tornadoes can persist for an hour or more. The size, strength, and environment of the tornado all play a role in determining its lifespan.
How do you guys rate the size of a tornadoes?
Tornadoes are not rated by size, they are rated by how severe the damage is from EF0 to EF5. For example if a tornado hits a town, destroying trailers and tearing off roofs but no worse, it is rated EF2, regardless of its size.
Although tornadoes with higher ratings tend to be larger, this is not always the case.
It is impossible to say for certain, bu tornadoes have probably been occurring on earth since the Precambrian time hundreds of millions, if not billions of years ago.
How long will it take a tornado to travel over a land?
The speed at which a tornado travels over land can vary significantly depending on factors like wind speed, terrain, and other atmospheric conditions. On average, tornadoes move at speeds of 30-70 miles per hour, but some have been recorded moving as fast as 70-80 mph or even faster.
There is no given size for an F5 tornado as tornado ratings are based on damage severity, not size.
A tornado is rated F5 if well-built houses are blown clean off their foundations.
F5 tornadoes have come in various sizes, ranging from as small as 100 yards to over 2 miles wide.
That being said, F5 tornadoes are usually very large, averaging about half a mile wide.
Can you make a sentence out of tornadoes and echoes?
Hook echoes in a radar image are a sign of possible tornadoes.
Why do Tornados only happen in the US?
That is no true. Tornadoes occur almost all over the world and have touched down on every continent except Antarctica.
The U.S. however, gets more tornadoes and stronger tornadoes than any other country. This is due to the fact that the country has a very large land area and has a large region where 80% of its tornadoes occur called Tornado Alley.
Tornado Alley experiences the perfect combination of colliding air masses, wind shear, and a strong "cap" of stable air for the formation of tornadic supercells. Other tornado producing regions in the world, such as in Argentina, do not have quite the same setup.
How many kinds of tornadoes are there?
That can have different answers. There are 6 levels on the Fujita Scale ranging from F0 to F5 (EF0 to EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale). But these are only levels of intensity and do not divide tornadoes into distinct types.
Type 1: also known as supercell tornadoes. These tornadoes, which form from the mesocyclone of a supercell, are the most common type and are generally the strongest. They are the only ones that can reach EF4 an EF5 intensity. On occasion these tornadoes can become very large.
Type 2: also known as landspouts or waterspouts* depending on where they occur. These tornadoes most often form from developing thunderstorms. They are weaker on average than supercell tornadoes but on rare occasions can be as as strong as EF3. When they occur as landspouts they often produce a characteristic dust tube.
Other tornado-like circulations such as dust devils, fire whirls and gustnadoes are not considered tornadoes.
*Type 1 tornadoes can occur as waterspouts as well, though not as often as type 2. They are called tornadic waterspouts. Waterspouts are usually not officially counted as tornadoes unless they hit land.
Why do tornadoes have a cone shape?
The funnel of a tornado is the result of moisture inside a tornado condensing. As the air rises it cools, allowing more moisture to condense, therefore the funnel gets wider the higher up you go.
What does a wall cloud look like?
A wall cloud is a large, lowering cloud formation that extends beneath the base of a thunderstorm. It often has a wall-like appearance and can be rotating. Wall clouds are typically dark and turbulent, and can sometimes be a precursor to tornado formation.
Do tornadoes form when it is cold and windy with no clouds?
No, tornadoes typically form in warm and moist environments in the presence of a strong vertical wind shear and unstable atmosphere. Cold and windy conditions with no clouds are not conducive to tornado formation.
