Tornadoes

Tornadoes can cause significant damage to buildings by strong winds and flying debris, resulting in roof damage, broken windows, and structural collapse. Additionally, tornadoes can uproot trees and utility poles, leading to power outages and road blockages.

The safest thing to do when encountering a tornado while in a car is to find a sturdy building to seek shelter in or to get out of the car and lie flat in a low-lying area, away from trees and vehicles. Never try to outrun a tornado in your car.

Movement of the Earth's plates does not directly cause tornadoes. Tornadoes are usually formed by the interaction of warm, moist air and cold, dry air in the atmosphere, along with specific weather conditions like thunderstorms. Plate tectonics, which involves the movement of the Earth's crustal plates, occurs within the Earth's lithosphere and is not directly related to tornado formation.

Thunderstorms:

Avoid going outside if possible. Do not enter any bodies of water. Do not take shelter under a tree. Avoid taking baths and showers or using appliances that are plugged in. Stay away from windows of strong winds or hail are possible.

Hurricanes:

Evacuate ahead of the storm if you are told to do so. Board up windows in advance if possible. If you are riding out the storm stock up on water, batteries, and food that does not need to be cooked or refrigerated. Remain inside at all times and stay away from windows. Move to an upper floor if any flooding occurs.

Tornadoes:

Take cover in an underground shelter if possible. If it is not possible, seek shelter in an interior room or closet on the lowest floor. Stay away from windows. If you are in a trailer home leave it for sturdier shelter. Do not attempt to outrun the storm.

A hurricane would likely have the greatest range of pressure. Hurricanes typically have very low central pressures, which can drop significantly as they intensify. Middle latitude cyclones and tornadoes can also exhibit pressure variations, but hurricanes are known for the largest pressure differentials across the storm system.

It depends on the strength of the tornado. Most tornadoes are rated F0 and F1. These tornadoes can damage roofs, break windows, and topple some trees. Trailers may be overturned or badly damaged.

Most of the serious damage is cause by the strongest 4% of tornadoes, those rated F3, F4, and F5.

An F3 tornado can largely destroy most houses, sometimes leaving only a few walls standing. Most trees will be uprooted and trailers don't stand a chance.

An F4 tornado will level most houses to the ground and can strip the bark from a tree.

Virtually nothing can withstand the full force of an F5 tornado. Houses are swept clean off their foundations.

F4 and F5 tornadoes have been known to wipe out larges sections of towns.

Yes, a tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. When it touches the ground, it can cause significant damage due to its strong winds and destructive potential. Tornadoes are typically accompanied by severe weather conditions such as thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

A tornado that levels well-constructed houses, creates large missiles, and throws cars around would likely be rated as a high-end EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale. EF5 tornadoes have wind speeds exceeding 200 mph and cause catastrophic damage.

Tornadoes often bring down trees, which can increase soil erosion. On rare occasions tornadoes can directly scour away the topsoil as well. Overall, tornadoes are not significant contributors to erosion and deposition.

The strongest winds of a tornado are thought to occur near the ground, typically within the lowest 100 feet or so. Wind speeds in tornadoes can exceed 200 mph, causing significant damage close to the surface.

The extreme deadliness of the Tri-State tornado was due to a combination of factors. First, it was an extremely violent tornado, maintaining F4 or F5 intensity along most of its path and had a wide swath of destruction, at times a mile wide. Second, it had a very long path, more than 200 miles long, so it covered a lot of ground, striking one town after another and so on. Third, it moved very fast, averaging more than 60 miles per hour, leaving little time for people to prepare. Fourth, the tornado's wide funnel accompanied by the low cloud base made it difficult to distinguish as a tornado, so many people did not realize the danger until it was too late. Finally, back in 1925 there was no advance warning system for tornadoes.

Tornadoes form when warm, moist air collides with cold, dry air, creating instability in the atmosphere. The tundra has a cold, stable climate with low humidity and limited temperature contrasts, making it unlikely for the conditions necessary for tornado formation to occur.

Precipitation is not directly associated with the type of tornadoes, but it can influence their formation and intensity. Tornadoes can occur in a variety of precipitation conditions, ranging from clear skies to heavy rain. However, strong thunderstorms with abundant moisture and instability are more likely to produce tornadoes.

Estimated winds for an F2 tornado on the original Fujita scale are 113 to 157 mph. It was later found that this estimate was not quite right for the damage inflicted by an F2 tornado and so was refined to a range of 111 to 135 mph for an EF2 tornado.

over 200 miles per hour for an EF5.

Original estimates for an F5 (now known to have been too high) were 261-318 mph.

On the Original Fujita scale F5 minimum winds were estimated at 261 mph.

To star off we must consider what the conditions for hurricanes and tornadoes have in common. To start, they both need conditions that strongly favor the formation of thunderstorms. Such conditions include plentiful warm, moist air to fuel the storms, a fairly rapid temperature drop with increasing altitude to destabilize the atmosphere, and a bit of low pressure to nudge the air upward and trigger the process. From here the conditions needed are different.

Hurricanes require so much moisture that they can only form over warm ocean water. They generally start from a weak, disorganized area of low pressure called a tropical disturbance which becomes stronger and more organized as it feeds on warm, moist air. Being tropical in nature, hurricanes are not associated with weather fronts. Partly because of the small temperature contrasts, the individual storm cells that make up a hurricane are usually fairly weak, but they combine to form a system that is greater than the sum of its parts. To sustain themselves, hurricanes need a continuous supply or warm, moist air. Dry air can cause a hurricane to weaken and dissipate while cold air will cause one to change into another kind of storm called and extratropical cyclone. Finally, to maintain their organized structure there needs to be little or no wind shear. In other words, the speed and direction of wind at different altitudes must be fairly uniform. Strong wind shear can essentially tear a hurricane apart.

In contrast to the relatively weak thunderstorms that make up hurricanes, tornadoes usually require very strong thunderstorms in order to form. As a result, while hurricanes form in the tropics, tornadoes usually form in temperate latitudes where there are larger contrasts in temperature and humidity. The storms that produce tornadoes most often form along a cold front or dry line where, respectively, cool or air or dry air collides with warm, moist air. Such collisions are not absolutely necessary, but they do create the most favorable conditions for tornadoes. The next ingredient needed is strong wind shear, which enhances the strength of individual storm cells and gives them the small-scale rotation they need to produce tornadoes.

Worldwide data is not available. In the U.S. tornadoes injure about 1,100 people per year on average based on official statistics. The actual number is probably higher since injuries from some tornadoes do not make it into official reports and minor injuries may be under reported in mass casualty events.

No, tornadoes typically develop in areas of low pressure, such as in the central U.S. during spring and summer. In these conditions, warm, moist air at the surface rises rapidly, creating the necessary conditions for tornado formation. High pressure systems are more associated with stable weather conditions and generally do not provide the dynamic atmosphere needed for tornadoes.

Tornadoes can occur on every continent except Antarctica, but they are most common in North America. Countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe can experience tornadoes. Cities in Tornado Alley, such as Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Kansas City, are most susceptible to tornadoes in the United States.

The hole in the center of a tornado is formed in a similar way to the eye of a hurricane. Low pressure inside the tornado pulls air in. As the air moves in it starts spinning faster. At a certain point the tornado is spinning so far that air cannot make it all the way to the center. Instead, air moves down the center. This process is called vortex breakdown and usually only occurs in intense tornadoes.

Tornado Alley is a region in the central United States, primarily in the southern plains, where tornadoes frequently occur. States in Tornado Alley include Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

The United States and several other countries use the Enhanced Fujita scale to classify tornadoes, which is an upgraded version of the Fujita scale.

Dry air is not absolutely necessary, but moist air is. Warm, moist air carries quite a bit of energy in the form of latent heat. This latent heat is the source of energy for thunderstorms, which are in turn what cause tornadoes. The thunderstorms that produce tornadoes usually form along a cold front or dry line. A cold front occurs when a cooler air mass pushes into a warmer one. The warm air, which is less dense, rises over the cooler air, which can trigger thunderstorms. The air behind a cold front is usually drier than the air ahead of it because cool air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air.

A dry line occurs when a dry air mass pushes into a warm air mass of about the same temperature. Since dry air is denser than moist air, the moist air gets pushed up, which can trigger thunderstorms.

Tornadoes are commonly associated with low-pressure systems, particularly those that develop in the vicinity of a cold front or along a line of thunderstorms known as a squall line. The contrast between warm and cold air masses in these systems can create the conditions necessary for tornado formation.

What areas are safest depend on your home. Generally an underground basement or cellar is the best choice. The next best option would be an interior room, hallway, or closest on the lowest floor of the house. A bathroom and especially a bathtub on the lowest floor often offer good protection. If you live in a mobile home you should leave it for a sturdier structure.