What Creates a Tornado?

7/9/2019 (Permalink)

Be prepared and know the power of a tornado with this information!

First, what defines a tornado?

Weather WizKids defines it as, “a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.” The worst tornadoes have a speed around 300mph. That’s almost as fast as an airplane in fight! Tornadoes are extremely powerful. The same website reports that, “They can destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards. They can also drive straw into trees. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide to 50 miles long. In an average year, 1000 tornadoes are reported nationwide.”

It’s important not to underestimate the power of a tornado. In case you were to be threatened by one in your area, hideaway into local or nearby shelter.

The majority of tornadoes form after a thunderstorm. In order for a tornado to form, you need humid, warm air to mix with dry, cold air.

So how exactly do they form?

Notice what Wiz Kids has to say about this topic; “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.”

What do tornadoes look like?

Aside from having a slender-funnel shape to them, they also appear to look Smokey with multiple vortices in them. Some in fact may look almost invisible.