Tornados
What exactly is a tornado?
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending between, and in contact with, a cloud and the surface of the earth.Tornadoes can come one at a time, or in clusters, and they can vary greatly in length, width, direction of travel, and speed. They can leave a path 50 yards wide or over a mile wide. They may touch down for only a matter of seconds, or remain in contact with the ground for over an hour.
How do tornados form?
1. Air Rotates Because of Wind Shear.
How the column of air begins to rotate is not completely understood by scientists, but one way the rotation appears to happen is when winds at two different altitudes blow at two different speeds creating wind shear. For example, a wind at 1000 feet above the surface might blow at 5mph and a wind at 5000 feet might blow at 25mph. This causes a horizontal rotating column of air.
2. Faster Spin Makes a Funnel Cloud.
If this column gets caught in a supercell updraft
3. The Funnel Rotates and Touches Down.
The rain and hail in the thunderstorm cause the funnel to touch down creating a tornado.
How it's effected our nation!
EF0 65-85 mph usually cause some damage to chimneys, damage sign boards, and break branches off of trees and topple shallow-rooted.
EF1 86-110 mph peel surfaces off of roofs, push mobile homes off of their foundations or even overturn them, and push cars off of the road.
EF2. 111-135 mph can tear the roofs off of light frame houses, demolish mobile homes, overturn railroad boxcars, uproot or snap large trees, lift cars off the ground, and turn light objects into missiles.
EF3.136-165 mph tear the roofs and walls off of well-constructed houses, uproot the trees in a forest, overturn entire trains, and can throw cars.
EF4.166-200 mph level well-constructed houses, blow structures with weak foundations some distances, and turn large objects into missiles.
EF5. 200 mph lift and blow strong houses, debark trees, cause car-sized objects to fly through the air, and cause incredible damage and phenomena to occur.
Other areas affected!
City Date
F3St. Louis, Missouri[1][3]March 8, 187191871 St. Louis tornado
F3Chicago, Illinois[4]May 6, 18762
F2Columbia, South Carolina[5]April 29, 18800
F2Kansas City, Missouri[1][6]May 13, 18833
F2Washington, D.C.[1][7][8][9][10]September 16, 18880
F2St. Louis, Missouri[citation needed]January 12, 18904Tornado history of St. Louis
F4Louisville, Kentucky[1]March 27, 189076March 1890 Mid-Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak
F2Dallas, Texas[1]January 20, 18941
F4St. Louis, Missouri[1]May 27, 1896255St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado
F3St. Catharines, Ontario[11][12]September 26, 18984Merritton tornado
F4Regina, Saskatchewan[13][14][15][16][17][18]June 30, 191228Regina Cyclone
F4Omaha, Nebraska[19]March 23, 19131031913 Omaha Easter Sunday tornado
F3Miami, Florida[20][21][22][23][24]April 5, 192551925 Miami tornado
F3Indianapolis, Indiana[1]May 18, 19272
F3St. Louis, Missouri[citation needed]September 29, 192728September 1927 St. Louis tornado outbreak
States included in tornado alley!
Fujita Scale
Cars that were throw and tossed everywhere.
Many houses were destroyed completely, leaving nothing but the harsh and ugly remains.
A simpy devastating sight of the wreckage from above.Cars were thrown and tossed around smashing into houses and each other.
Tornados!
with very little warning. Most of the time they move in with a thunderstorm, and when they are finally seen it is too late.