Tornadoes

The strong wind in a tornado is the source of its destructive potential.

In most cases the intensity of a tornado is never actually measured. Tornadoes are rated based on the severity of the damage they cause. Mobile Doppler radar can measure wind speeds in a tornado, but since such radar cannot measure ground-level winds the measurements are not used in ratings.

It may depend on the deck, but generally, no. Some decks could be moved even by a weak tornado, potentially crushing anyone underneath. The higher the deck is off the ground, the less protection it offers. It is best to be underground or, if that is not an option, in an interior windowless room, closet, or hallway

It is impossible to make such predictions for any specific location a day in advance; such predictions can only be made on a time scale of minutes. For the tornado outbreak of April 9, 2015, tornadoes were reported not far from Peoria, but it does not appear that Peoria itself was hit.

Farmers on the interior plains often build storm cellars or underground shelters to protect themselves from tornadoes. These structures provide a safe place to take cover during severe weather events. Additionally, some farmers may invest in reinforced buildings or safe rooms to enhance their protection from tornadoes.

A tornado's central pressure is lower than the surroundings. In a strong tornado it may be 50 to 100 millibars lower. The actual pressure will, of course, depend on what the pressure of the surroundings are, which can vary with elevation and the tornado's parent storm system.

Generally, none. Tornadoes can destroy vegetation and man-made structures, but they rarely do anything to the land itself. In extremely cases the very strongest of tornadoes may remove a few inches to a couple feet of soil, but nothing more than that.

No, it is not a good idea to open your windows during a tornado. Doing so could increase the likelihood of debris entering your home and causing damage or injury. It is better to seek shelter in a safe, interior room away from windows.

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Cumulonimbus clouds, the clouds of thunderstorms. A tornado is a product of a thunderstorm and descends to the ground from the base of a cumulonimbus. A hurricane is a storm system composed of many thunderstorms, and therefore contains many cumulonimbus clouds.

It varies considerably from one year to the next. While the average over the past 23 years is about 45 per year, it has ranged from a low of 12 to a high of 109.

Tornadoes are caused by severe thunderstorms within the atmosphere. The interaction between warm, moist air and cool, dry air, along with wind patterns and atmospheric instability, can create the conditions necessary for tornado formation.

A tornado is a type of severe weather phenomenon that can form within certain types of clouds, specifically supercell thunderstorm clouds. Tornadoes are associated with strong updrafts and rotating winds within these storm clouds. While not all clouds produce tornadoes, the presence of specific cloud types can contribute to the formation of tornadoes under the right atmospheric conditions.

Latent heat is thermal energy that cannot be detected by temperature difference. In earth's atmosphere much of the latent heat is held by water vapor. In other words: warm, moist air holds a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat. It is this energy, released by the condensation of water vapor, that powers thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are what produce tornadoes.

A typical tornado is 50 to 100 yards wide, but the very widest can exceed 2 miles in diameter. The largest tornado on record had a damage path 2.6 mile wide.

Yes, in fact some places have been hit twice in the same day. On April 3, 1974 the towns of Tanner, Capshaw , and Harvest, Alabama were first hit by an F5 tornado, followed by an F4 (listed by some as F5) tornado barely 30 minutes later. In some places it was impossible to tell which tornado damage what.

Tornadoes are most common in the Great Plains region of the United States, often referred to as "Tornado Alley." This area includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, where warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets cool, dry air from the Rocky Mountains, creating ideal conditions for tornado formation.

Tornadoes can hit Indiana in most months. However, the highest activity on average occur in May.

They have some similarties, but there are also major differences. Both hurricanes and tornadoes are violent storms with winds that rotate around a center of low pressure. Both can be deadly and very destructive. However, they operate on completely different scales. A hurricane is a large-scale self-sustaining storm system while a tornado is a small-scale vortex dependent on a parent thunderstorm. Hurricanes produce substantial flooding through rain and storm surge, while a tornado is entirely a wind phenomenon.

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Tornado damage has traditionally been rated on the Fujita scale. However, the United States and Canada now rate tornado damage on the similar Enhanced Fujita scale.

Tornado season in the Midwest typically occurs during late spring and early summer, from April to June. This is when warm, moist air from the south meets cooler air from the north, creating the conditions for tornadoes to form.

It varies. Some tornadoes stay in open fields or only impact trees and so cause no property damage. Weak tornadoes (EF0 and EF1) often cause damage in the tens of thousands of dollars, and on rare occasions in to the millions.

Strong to violent tornadoes (EF2-EF5) may cause damage ranging from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to the tens of millions.

Some of the worst tornadoes have caused damage in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with a handful topping $1 billion.

Yes, some people have survived tornadoes by seeking shelter in basements, storm shelters, or interior rooms of sturdy buildings. It is important to take tornado warnings seriously and have a plan in place to stay safe in the event of severe weather.