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Tornado
Home
Earthquakes
Tornadoes
Tsunami
Volcano
Fun page
Glossary
Credits
TQNYC
Home
Earthquakes
Tornadoes
Tsunami
Volcano
Fun page
Glossary
Credits
TQNYC
Tornadoes are the stuff of nightmares. When people think of tornadoes, flying houses, fast winds, and a lot of stuff thrown everywhere is what usually comes to mind. Actually, there’s much more to it than that.
Now, how does a tornado form? Well, surprisingly, this tornado does not just appear by itself. Instead, it grows out of an already dangerous thunderstorm. However, before we go on you have to understand how a vortex is formed. First, particles must be moving somewhere quickly. As they gather speed, they will start acting like bumper cars, hitting each other a lot. Eventually, a particle will start going in a circle, making other particles do the same along the way, which starts a chain reaction. This chain reaction will cause rotation, and a vortex is formed.
Now that you know what is a vortex, you can learn about how a tornado is formed. Sometimes there’s a thunderstorm that is abnormally strong, something that is called a supercell thunderstorm. Using what you learned earlier, the air creates a vortex, or a mesocyclone. The mesocyclone is a weak tornado, and stretches 2 to 6 miles wide. This then has a chance of increasing in power, and becoming a full-fledged tornado. Great, now its time for the epic and dangerous tornado to wreak some havoc!
If you hear a weatherman saying there is going to be a F5 level tornado, get ready to have your socks blown off. An F5 tornado has wind speeds of 261-318 miles per hour, while a F0 tornado goes 40-72 miles per hour. The higher the level, the more devastating it is. If you’re caught in one of these monsters, don’t take cover in your automobile because many people have been killed while doing so. Instead, you should hide in the lowest floor of your house/building, safe room, basement, etc. If you are caught outside, also go to a lower location, and avoid flying debris, which causes the most injuries.
As the tornado follows its parent thundercloud, you may wonder: will this monster ever stop? It started with a balance of cold and hot air. A little extra cold or hot air will upset the balance, and therefore destroy the tornado. Another way it can be destroyed is by disrupting the airflow, which stops the key tornado component-rotation. Either way, bye-bye tornado!
Now, how does a tornado form? Well, surprisingly, this tornado does not just appear by itself. Instead, it grows out of an already dangerous thunderstorm. However, before we go on you have to understand how a vortex is formed. First, particles must be moving somewhere quickly. As they gather speed, they will start acting like bumper cars, hitting each other a lot. Eventually, a particle will start going in a circle, making other particles do the same along the way, which starts a chain reaction. This chain reaction will cause rotation, and a vortex is formed.
Now that you know what is a vortex, you can learn about how a tornado is formed. Sometimes there’s a thunderstorm that is abnormally strong, something that is called a supercell thunderstorm. Using what you learned earlier, the air creates a vortex, or a mesocyclone. The mesocyclone is a weak tornado, and stretches 2 to 6 miles wide. This then has a chance of increasing in power, and becoming a full-fledged tornado. Great, now its time for the epic and dangerous tornado to wreak some havoc!
If you hear a weatherman saying there is going to be a F5 level tornado, get ready to have your socks blown off. An F5 tornado has wind speeds of 261-318 miles per hour, while a F0 tornado goes 40-72 miles per hour. The higher the level, the more devastating it is. If you’re caught in one of these monsters, don’t take cover in your automobile because many people have been killed while doing so. Instead, you should hide in the lowest floor of your house/building, safe room, basement, etc. If you are caught outside, also go to a lower location, and avoid flying debris, which causes the most injuries.
As the tornado follows its parent thundercloud, you may wonder: will this monster ever stop? It started with a balance of cold and hot air. A little extra cold or hot air will upset the balance, and therefore destroy the tornado. Another way it can be destroyed is by disrupting the airflow, which stops the key tornado component-rotation. Either way, bye-bye tornado!