Tornadoes

How much damage it does?

Tornadoes are very destructiveIt destroys in many ways:

SpinningHigh Winds

LiftingThrowing things to ground

Causing causalitiesProperty damage

Tornado Categories?

F0 – Weak winds (40-70 mph), little damageF1 – Moderate winds (70-120 mph), moderate

damageF2 – Significant winds (120-150 mph), significant

damageF3 – Strong winds (150-200 mph), severe damage

F4 – Devastating winds (200-250 mph), devastating winds

F5 – Violent winds (250-300 mph), incredible damage

How the disaster is formed?

Most tornadoes form from thunderstorms. You need warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cool, dry

air from Canada. When these two air masses meet, they create instability in the atmosphere. A change in

wind direction and an increase in wind speed with increasing height creates an invisible, horizontal

spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Rising air within the updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal

to vertical. An area of rotation, 2-6 miles wide, now extends through much of the storm. Most strong and

violent tornadoes form within this area of strong rotation

How people predict it?

Meteorologist observe the following atmospheric conditions to predict tornado

development:Air Temperature

Barometric PressureLocation of Fronts

Wind Velocities

Most useful tool to identify Tornadoes is Radar, specifically Doppler Radar.

MANY examples of this disaster:

The Joplin tornado is called so for having devastated a large portion of the city

of Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Some other tornadoes include the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado of 2011, the Aurora, Nebraska

tornado of 2009, and the Binger, Oklahoma tornado of 1981.The Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22, 2011; the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 3, 1999; The Wichita Falls, Texas tornado of April 10,

1979; and the Worcester, Massachusetts tornado of June 9, 1953.

More Examples are:• Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas make up Tornado

alley, where tornadoes strike regularly in the spring and early summer.• In 1931 a tornado in Mississippi lifted an 83 ton train and tossed it 80 feet

from the track.• The Tri-State Tornado that travelled through parts of Missouri, Illinois and

Indiana in 1925 left a path of destruction over 219 miles long.• The Tri-State Tornado was the deadliest tornado in US history, killing 695

people.• In 1989 the deadliest tornado ever recorded in the world killed around

1300 people in Bangladesh.• A Tornado in Oklahoma once destroyed a whole motel. People later found

the motel’s sign in Arkansas.• In 1981, a tornado that swept through the Italian City of Ancona lifted a

sleeping baby from its baby carriage and set it down unharmed on the ground.

Interesting Facts

Knives and forks have been found embedded in tree trunks flung from a tornado.

The USA averages around 1200 tornadoes every year, more than any other country.

Not all tornadoes are visible but their high wind speeds and rapid rotation often form a visible funnel of condensed water.

Most tornadoes travel a few miles before exhausting themselves.In the southern hemisphere tornadoes usually rotate in a clockwise direction.

In the northern hemisphere tornadoes usually rotate in a counterclockwise direction.

A tornado that occurs over water is often called a waterspout. The myth of opening the windows in a house will help prevent a tornado

from it being destroyed is false. In fact, opening the wrong windows could allow air to rush in and blow the house apart from the inside.

Websites

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htmhttp://www.freeclubweb.com/powerpoints/science/weather/tornadoes.htmlhttp://io9.com/5793368/an-atmospheric-scientist-tells-us-how-shed-stop-tornadoes-before-they-start