Tornadoes

Tracy Mascorro

Geog101

What is a Tornado? * A rotating column of air

that is in contact with the

ground and cloud base.

Tornadoes form due to warm moist air that is blown in from the Gulf,

cold air from Canada, and dry air from the Rockies

Nearly 1300 tornadoes hit the US alone, on average,

in one single year.

Where is it? Tornadoes are most commonly seen in the

United states, specifically in Tornado Alley,

but can be found in other countries as well.

The United States has 4 times the amount

of tornadoes than Europe.

The Unknown of a Tornado Tornadoes are still being observed and are not quite

understood.

*Tornadoes could dissipate because

of the air stabilizing. This could be

caused by the cold outflow from other

storms.

*Every storm is different. While one

tornado includes hail, rain, and

lightening; another may have neither

of those.

“Tornadoes skip around?” Not necessarily, as the definition clearly states, a tornado needs to have

contact with the ground and the cloud base in order to be defined as a

tornado. However, there are 3 reasons why this may seem possible:

• The tornado is to weak to

cause damage

• Multiple tornadoes happened;

but there was no survey done

to precisely separate their

paths (very common before

the 1970s); or

• There were multiple

tornadoes with only short

separation, but the survey

erroneously classified them

as one tornado.

Sub Vortices

A sub vortice is a multi vortex tornado, containing multiple tornadoes that are usually orbiting the

center of a larger tornado circulation.

The larger tornado could also

absorb the other tornadoes but this

is very unusual.

Historical Facts Deadliest Tornado: "Tri-state" tornado of 18 March 1925 killed 695

people

Biggest 24 Hr Outbreak: 175 tornadoes on 27-28 April 2011, with a

damage-rating breakdown of EF0: 59, EF1: 65, EF2: 20, EF3: 16,

EF4: 11, and EF5: 4

Biggest Tornado Recorded: 31 May 2013, a

deadly, multiple-vortex tornado near El Reno,

OK carved a maximum path width of 2.6 miles

Most Traveled Tornado: In 1917 traveled 570

kilometers (About 354 miles) across Illinois

and Indiana lasting well over 7 hours

Other Tornado-Like Features Waterspout: A tornado over water

Landspout: Dust Tube Tornado Gustnado: Gust Front Tornado

Dust Devil: Are

formed without

clouds and are very

weak.

Fire Whirl: Small-scale, tornado-like circulations

can occur near any intense surface heat source

The Problem with Tornadoes *They are expensive because they cause a lot

of damage.

*There is not enough time between the

warnings and an arrival of a tornado to warn

people to take shelter.

What Can Be Done? *Cities can provide more underground shelter for the homeless and people

living in apartments, as well as safe rooms for housing.

*Technology can be used to continue to research tornadoes and find a way to predict them sooner.

*Building codes need to be changed for areas that are prone for tornadoes.

*People need to be aware, and not ignore, the types of tornado warnings:

*Tornado Watch is when a certain area is alerted that it may be possible a tornado

may happen but it is not for certain.

*Tornado Warning is when a tornado has been spotted

and you

should take

cover

right away.

References

Mr. Thorne English 6 Class. (2003, March 21). Tornadoes. Retrieved from

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/studshow/pinegrovems/justinkmichaelg/tornadoes - jk and mg.htm

National Weather Service. (2013, August 30). The online tornado faq. Retrieved from

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/

Pidwerny, M. (2008, May 28). Tornadoes. Retrieved from

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156662/

United States Environmental Protection Agency (2013, May 21). Tornadoes. Retrieved from

http://www.epa.gov/naturalevents/tornadoes.html

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Tornado. In Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornadic

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