 |
|
| |
|
||||
  A tornado is a violent windstorm characterized by a twisting, funnel-shaped cloud. The word "tornado" comes from the Spanish or Portuguese verb tornar, meaning "to turn." The phenomenon appears in storms all around the world, most famously in a broad area of the American Midwest and South known as Tornado Alley. Although the United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country, when relative land area is accounted for, the United Kingdom is the most tornado-prone country in the world. Some common, related slang terms are: twister, whirlwind, wedge, funnel, gustnado, landspout, or rope.
Tornado formationTornadoes develop from severe thunderstorms, usually spawned from squall lines and supercell thunderstorms, though they sometimes happen as a result of a hurricane. They are believed to be produced when cool air overrides a layer of warm air, forcing the warm air to rise rapidly, though tornadoes over water (waterspouts) frequently are observed forming in the absence of convection or apparent strong surface temperature differences. Tornadoes, lightning, and sometimes hail are associated with thunderstorms. Many tornadoes appear at the tail end of mesocyclones. On weather radar screens, a characteristic "hook echo" is the area where torndoes may exist. The damage to human built structures from a tornado is a result of the high wind velocity and wind-blown debris. Tornado winds range from a slow 40 mph (65 km/h) at the low end to a possible 300 mph (480 km/h) in the strongest storms. Tornado season in North America is generally March through August, although tornadoes can occur at any time of year. They tend to occur in the afternoons and evenings: over 80 percent of all tornadoes strike between noon and midnight. Tornadoes can be nearly invisible, marked only by swirling debris at the base of the funnel. While tornadoes are invisible at night, some nocturnal tornadoes have been observed glowing diffusely due to lightning activity. Verified observations by Hall and others suggest a cellular structure inside tornadoes. Some tornadoes are composed of several mini-funnels. A tornado must by definition have both ground and cloud contact. Missing image Tornado_radar_hook_echo.gif A classical "hook echo" as seen in the strongest tornado in the 1999 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak. At the time of this image, the tornado was crossing Interstate 44 near the Canadian River, after producing F5 damage in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, and before more F5 damage in Moore. The bright red colors at the tornado location represent not rain or hail -- but the aggregate signature of car parts, pieces of houses, shredded tree branches, dirt and other debris, hoisted thousands of feet skyward by the tornado vortex! Source: U.S. NOAA National Weather Service The United States experiences by far the most tornadoes of any country, and has also suffered the most intense ones. However, tornadoes do occur throughout the world; the most tornado-prone region of the world, as measured by number of tornadoes per unit area, is the United Kingdom, especially England [1] (http://www.torro.org.uk/severeweather/tornadofaqs.htm). In Canada, an average of 80 tornadoes occur annually, killing 2, injuring 20 and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage. The last killer tornado in Canada struck Pine Lake, Alberta in July of 2000, killing 11. On average, the United States experiences 100,000 thunderstorms each year, resulting in over 1,000 tornadoes and approximately 50 deaths per year. The deadliest US tornado on record is the March 18, 1925 Tri-State Tornado that went across southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana, killing 695 people. More than six tornadoes in one day is considered a tornado outbreak. The biggest tornado outbreak on record—with 148 tornadoes, including six F5 and 30 F4 tornadoes—occurred on April 3, 1974. It is dubbed the Super Outbreak. Another such significant storm system was the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak which affected the United States Midwest on April 11, 1965. The intensity of tornadoes is given by the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale (also known simply as Fujita scale). The intensity can be derived directly with high resolution Doppler radar wind speed data, or empirically derived from structural damage compared to engineering data. Also, note that intensity does not refer in any way to the size, or width, of a tornado. Trained weather spotters are often on alert to look for tornadoes and notify local weather agencies when severe weather is occurring or predicted to be imminent. In the United States, skywarn spotters, often local sheriff's deputies, fulfill this role. Additionally, some individuals, known as storm chasers, enjoy pursuing thunderstorms and tornadoes to explore their many visual and scientific aspects.
Tornado characteristicsNo two tornadoes look exactly alike. Nor have any two tornadoes behaved exactly the same. There are true incidents of tornadoes repeatedly hitting the same town several years in a row. But forecasting the exact position a tornado will strike at a certain time is nearly impossible. Not every thunderstorm, supercell, squall line, or hurricane will produce a tornado. Luckily, it takes exactly the right combination of atmospheric variables (wind, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc) to spawn even a weak tornado. On the other hand, roughly 1,000 tornadoes a year are reported in the contiguous US. Of all tornadoes formed in the US, F0 and F1 tornadoes account for a large percentage of occurrences. On the other end of the scale, the massively destructive F5 tornadoes account for less than 2% of all tornadoes in the US. Even though no two tornadoes are exactly alike, they always have the same general characteristics that classify them as tornadoes. First, a tornado is a microscale rotating area of wind. A thunderstorm can rotate, but that does not mean it is a tornado. Secondly, the vortex, rotating wind, must be attached to a convective cloud base, and be in contact with the ground. Some of those are thunderstorms embedded in squal lines, supercell thunderstorms, and also not to exclude the outer fringes of landfalling hurricanes. Third, a spinning vortex of air must have a wind speed above a certain rate to be classified by the Fujita scale as a tornado. According to Environment Canada, the chances of being killed by a tornado are 12 million to 1 (12,000,000:1). One may revise this yearly and/or regionally, but the probability may be factually stated to be low. Tornadoes do cause millions of dollars in damage, both economic and physical, displacement, and many injuries every year. Attempts have been made by storm chasers to drop probes in the path of oncoming tornadoes in an effort to analyze the interior of the storms, but only about five drops have been successful since around 1990. Many misconceptions, and science fiction, concerning tornado formation crop up from time to time. See Tornado myths. Tornado awareness and safetyEach time tornado season comes around, schools and media outlets in tornado-prone areas spend time educating the public about the dangers and what can be done to improve the chances of surviving a storm. In the United States, citizens are often advised to purchase NOAA Weather Radios. They are relatively inexpensive devices costing as little as $20 in U.S. currency, which will activate whenever the National Weather Service issues severe weather warnings. Warnings are also carried on radio and television, and most communities have civil defense sirens that will activate when severe weather is believed to be approaching. Missing image Tornado_damage.jpg Tornadoes can cause serious damage, injury or death. Always heed official watches and warnings.
Vehicles are extremely dangerous in a tornado. If the tornado is visible, far away, and the traffic is light, you may be able to drive out of its path by moving at right angles to the tornado. Otherwise, park the vehicle as quickly and safely as possible -- out of the traffic lanes (it is safer to get the vehicle out of mud later if necessary than to cause a crash) and seek shelter in a sturdy building or ditch. You should not, under any circumstances, stay in a vehicle if the vehicle is in or near the path of a tornado. Vehicles are easily tossed around by the extreme winds created by a tornado. Some people take shelter underneath bridge overpasses during storms, but they are not considered a safe place to take shelter. The National Weather Service office based in Norman, Oklahoma has created a presentation discussing the use of bridges as protection during the Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak that occurred on May 3, 1999 in the region of Oklahoma City where tornadoes passed over three different bridges—at least one person was killed in each instance. Bridges vary in construction, and many do not provide any significant protection from the wind and flying debris. Some common myths about Tornadoes which people should not rely upon to protect them, are given in the article on The Super Outbreak of 1974, in which some of the most dangerous tornadoes formed near rivers and crossed them, and crossed over steep hills, mountains and deep valleys. Further safety information is available via the "External links" section below. See also
References
External links
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tornado". |