Tornadoes
Shawnee, & Moore, Oklahoma Tornadoes May 24,2013
Objective: To Describe Step by Step How a Tornadoes Form
Shawnee, Oklahoma Tornado
Another round of dangerous weather is expected to slam the plains on Monday, after tornadoes that ripped thought five states Sunday killed two and left more than 20 injured. A tornado in Shawnee, Oklahoma, severely damaged a mobile home park and killed a 79 year-old man whose body was found in an open area of the neighborhood. Oklahoma's state medical examiner's office said Monday that a second person was killed by a tornado that leveled the central Oklahoma mobile home park.
Moore, Oklahoma Tornado
The 2-mile wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. One elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed. Thunderstorm and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but officials lowered the number of bodies recovered. Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit. Rescuers were sent from other states to join the search.
Tornado
Tornado - a destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that maybe visible as a funnel-shaped cloud. A tornado forms when a thunderstorm meets a high-altitude, horizontal winds. These winds cause the rising air in thunderstorm to rotate. A storm cloud may develop a narrow, funnel-shaped, rapidly spinning extension that reaches downward and may or may not touch the ground, it generally moves in a wandering haphazard path.
How Tornadoes Form
Before thunderstorms develop, a change in wind direction and an increase in wind speeds with increasing height creates an invisible, horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Rising air within the thunderstorm 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. A lower cloud base in the centre of the photograph identifies and area of rotation known as rotating wall cloud. This area is often nearly rain-free. Note rain in the background. Moments later a strong tornado develops in this area. Softball-size hail and damaging "straight-line" winds also occurred with this storm. Tornadoes usually result from a very large thunderstorm. Cold air and warm air combine, and the cold air goes down as the warm air rises. His warm air eventually twists into a spiral, forming a funnel cloud. As the sky turns a very dark green color, the tornado begins its path of destruction.
Wind Speeds of Shawnee and Moore Tornadoes
An early estimate rated that the Shawnee Tornado had winds that were between a 166 and 200 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The Moore Tornado had winds of 300 mph, the highest wind speed ever recorded near the Earth's surface.
Fujita Scale
The Fujita Scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita Scale category is determined by meteorologist and engineers after a ground aerial damage survey, or both; and depending on the circumstance, ground-swirl patterns, radar tracking, eyewitness testimonies, media reports and damage imagery, as well as photogrammetry or video grammetry I motion picture recording is available.
Moore, Oklahoma Tornado
At least 24 people including nine children were killed when a massive tornado struck an area outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, officials said. At least seven of those children were killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, police said. The tornado was 1.3 miles wide as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the National Weather Sevice said. The estimated peak wind ranged from 200 to 210 mph.
Shawnee, Oklahoma Tornado
A tornado tore through Shawnee, Oklahoma on Sunday, and news source report at least one person was killed. According to News9.com and Fox News, at least on death was reported in Shawnee, and vehicles were overturned. The Shawnee Tornado traveled about 166 to 200mph this occurred 15 minutes after the storm
5/20/13 Moore, OK Devastating Tornado
Shawnee, Oklahoma Tornado on May 19, 2013
Tornadoes that were Affected in other areas
Kansas, Western And Central Missouri, northwest Arkansas Central and Eastern Oklahoma and Northwestern Texas were areas that were affected by the Oklahoma Tornadoes at 10:00 P.M - 11:00P.M.
"Tornado Alley"
Tornado Alley is the area in the United States in which tornadoes are most frequent. It encompasses the great lowland areas of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the lower Missouri River Valleys. The ten states that are involved are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas
Conclusion
As you can see Tornadoes, are a devastating part of nature that can cause a lot of damage due to high wind speed, and humid temperature which can cause many tornadoes to form, and cause serious damage to houses, people, and schools.
Resources
Huffingtonpost.com
Library.thinkquest.com
CNN.com
Now.MSN.com
en.wikipedia.org