Tornadoes

Predicting a tornado allows us to warn people in the path, allowing them to get to a safe place before it hits. In the days before we had tornado warnings many people were killed or injured because tornadoes caught them unprepared.

Moving over a warm body of water may cause a tornado to gain strength. The flat surface will allow the tornado's winds to move largely unimpeded by friction. Moisture evaporating from the warm surface may also provide extra energy fro the storm. A cold body of water may cause the storm to weaken if it is large enough.

During a tornado, a drop in air pressure near the roof creates a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building. This pressure difference causes an uplift force on the roof due to Bernoulli's principle, where air moves faster over the roof, creating a lower pressure on top that can lift the roof off.

Hills and mountains can, to some degree, disrupt thunderstorms from organizing, making tornadoes less likely. Overall, through, tornadoes are more influenced by climate than topography. It just so happens that the most tornado-prone region in the world, the central U.S., is also quite flat.

The central United States, often referred to as "Tornado Alley," is a hot spot for tornadoes due to the collision of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico with cold, dry air from the Rocky Mountains. States like Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska experience a high frequency of tornadoes each year.

Severe thunderstorms would probably be the answer.

They can produce strong winds in more than one way. First, they can produce winds via a downburst which is a strong downdraft that occurs during a thunderstorm, and the causes strong, straight-line winds that can sometimes exceed 130 mph. In some cases downbursts can occur along a line of severe storms, resulting in a phenomenon called a derecho.

Another way thunderstorms can produce strong winds is through a rear-flank downdraft or RFD, a descending mass of dry air associated with the mesocyclone, or rotating updraft, of a supercell. The RFD can produce winds in excess of 100 mph. It is also believed to play an essential role in tornado formation.

Waterspouts are often thought to be less "deadly" than tornadoes because there is not really any property for them to pick up/destroy: They generally are not carrying gigantic amounts of debris to cause destruction, and hardly any human lives are at risk.

However, they ARE tornadoes - just on water- They have "deadly" winds (think about how heavy all that water is).

While fair-weather waterspouts rarely produce winds over 70 mph, tornadic waterspouts can be just as strong as any tornado.

Sometimes. Tornadoes often form in a rain-free portion of their parent thunderstorms and the rain, wind, and hail often let up a few minutes before the tornado arrives. Some people have noted an eerie silence. In other cases a tornado may be shrouded in rain, and heavy rain continues even as the tornado strikes. Such rain-wrapped tornadoes are particularly dangerous because you can't see them coming.

Tornadoes generally are not a major cause of erosion.While tornadoes produces very intense winds, exposures is generally quite brief, and it is extremely rare for any given spot to be hit by one. In some cases tornado winds can sour away soil.

Contrary to popular belief, the size and shape of a tornado is not a very good indicator of intensity. In 1995 an elephant trunk tornado struck the outskirts of Pampa, Texas. Using video analysis, tornado expert Thomas Grazulis estimated the wind speed to be approximately 300 miles per hour (480 km/h).

No. The reality is that 75% of Earth's recorded tornadoes occur in the United States. The United States is one of few countries to actively monitor and survey tornadoes within its borders, so most tornadoes that strike the U.S. are recorded. In most other countries the majority of tornadoes likely never get recorded, resulting in highly inaccurate statistics.

It is impossible to say with any certainty. In an average year, there are about 1,800 tornadoes recorded worldwide, most of them in the United States. The true number of tornadoes is probably several times higher. Most countries do not conduct storm surveys and so the majority of the world's tornadoes go unrecorded.

A more accurate answer. Contrary to popular belief, tornadoes can pass over mountains and valleys without weakening. However, rough terrain can disrupt the ability of storms to organize, making it more difficult for tornadoes to form. Mountains can also block the movement of moisture necessary for storm formation in what is called the rain shadow effect. That tornadoes are so common on the Great Plains has more to do with climate than with topography. There is also a bias created by our ability to photograph tornadoes Major tornado outbreaks are not uncommon in hilly areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, but the tornadoes in this region are often shrouded in rain or blocked from view by hills and trees, resulting in fewer photographs. By contrast, the tornadoes of the Great Plains are less likely to be blocked from view, providing ample opportunity for clear pictures.

If a thunderstorm is capable of producing a tornado in the immediate future or if a tornado has been detected then a tornado warning is issued. If general conditions are favorable for tornadoes but there is not necessarily an immediate threat, then a tornado watch is issued.

Tornado alley is the area where more tornadoes occur, typically in the Midwest. The reason why there are so many tornadoes is because the cold dry air from Canada and The Rocky Mountains meet with the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and Sonoran Desert, which causes atmospheric instability, which ultimately produces fierce thunderstorms.

That varies. If you are close enough to be in the area of the tornado's inflow then the wind will blow almost directly towards the tornado, perhaps a little to the right of that direction. In that case the wind direction will depend on where the tornado is relative to you.

If you are beyond the inflow area for the tornado, then nothing about the wind direction would indicate the approaching tornado.

No. It was once believed that the low pressure inside a tornado would cause houses to explode, but this notion was disproven by the 1990s. It is the wind and debris in a tornado that destroys houses, not the low pressure.

• Tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita scaled based on the severity of the damage they inflict. Ratings range from EF0 for the weakest tornadoes to EF5 for the strongest.
• Some tornadoes contain multiple smaller vortices which can sometimes give a tornado two or more funnels.
• Strange phenomena have occurred during tornadoes. One tornado tore a wall from a house but left pottery in place on a shelf against that wall. Others have lifted houses from their foundations while causing little damage to them and still others have left objects such as forks, straws, and vinyl records stuck in trees and utility poles.

A ground via is a type of via used in printed circuit boards (PCBs) to connect a signal or component on one layer to the ground plane on another layer. This helps to provide a low impedance path for returning currents and preventing signal interference. Ground vias are essential for maintaining signal integrity and reducing electromagnetic interference in high-speed digital circuits.

The highest rating a tornado can attain is EF5. Tornadoes this strong will wipe well-constructed houses clean off their foundations. Tornadoes rated EF4 and EF5 are often quite large and can completely destroy towns and neighborhoods.

A sand tornado is not a true tornado but a phenomenon called a dust devil. A dust devil takes for form of a whirling cloud of dust as dust is sucked up by the vortex. It may appear tubelike and gradually fades into nothing farther up.

3.5 hours

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air and therefore part of the atmosphere.

Glitter is used in a tornado in a bottle to make the swirling motion of the liquid more visible and interesting to observe. The glitter particles help to make the movement of the liquid more visible as it mimics the look of a swirling tornado.

Winds vary widely in tornadoes. The minimum estimated winds for an EF0 tornado are 65 mph while the upper limit for tornado strength is believed to be just over 300 mph.

The majority of tornadoes have winds of 110 mph or less (EF0 and EF1). The tornadoes that cause the most damage have estimated winds over 135 mph (EF3-EF5).