causes of tornado

When this quest for warm moisture brings the funnel in contact with the ground, it can be devastating for anything or anyone in its way. For extra safety, take cover under something sturdy, like a heavy table or workbench. The threat isn't necessarily over when a tornado fades away. Get out and find an open, treeless place that doesn't have many potential projectiles. But some especially powerful tornadoes travel for dozens of miles, destroying entire communities along the way. The most common hour for tornadoes is 5 p.m., followed by 6 and 7 p.m.; they form least often between 3 and 9 a.m. EF-3: 136 to 165 mph winds result in damage to multiple stories of well-built homes. High-rise buildings experience severe damage, and car-sized debris flies through the air. The bottom end of the vortex is surrounded by a cloud of dust and debris. Tornadoes are typically 300 to 500 yards wide, though some of the largest ones have spanned a width of more than two miles. (For more safety tips, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advice on preparing for a tornado.). If the storm is strong enough and the atmospheric pressure is low enough, the rotating mesocyclone may also extend down a concentrated, supercharged funnel cloud known as a tornado. This happens when updrafts of warm and wet air collide with cold air. Yet despite being target practice for these atmospheric power drills, America's tornado mythos is still cloaked in mystery and misunderstanding. If you can't get underground, head for a windowless central room, hallway or closet on the lowest floor possible. Winds can strip roofs, and exterior doors to homes on foundations are often removed with windows broken. Although nothing can be done to prevent tornadoes, taking these actions can help you stay healthy and safe before, during, and after the storm. Multiple vortex - A tornado with more than one spinning tube of air. A basement or a sturdy, windowless room is a good option. Tornadoes develop in weather conditions where three different layers of air combine in a specific way. A tornado can occur anywhere on land expect Antarctica. Tornadoes sometimes arise from huge, rotating "supercell" thunderstorms. Tornadoes occur where unstable air creates wind funnels that destroy homes and uproot trees. A thunderstorm alone is a violent force, but under certain conditions, things can get much worse. For the southern states, this season runs from March through May, but in the northern climes, tornadoes occur in the summertime. Here's what will. Tornadoes can form quickly and without warning, and their destructive nature makes them hard to study. Here's a video showing several tornadoes in action, with a warning to turn the sound down to mute the videographer's reaction: Russell McLendon is a science journalist who covers a wide range of topics about the natural environment, humans, and other wildlife. destroying entire communities along the way, tornadoes that hit Alabama were the deadliest in six years, Scientists have had some wild ideas for controlling hurricanes, The U.S. military's plan to fight climate change, Walls won't save our cities from rising seas. Tornadoes can occur any time of year, but they wage all-out war on the U.S. during spring and summer. Don't try to outrun a tornado in your car, either, the CDC says. Your main goal during a tornado should be to avoid the path of any flying or falling debris, which causes the most tornado-related deaths. FOLLOW NBC NEWS MACH ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM. Destructive tornadoes remain common through June and July, and some parts of the country even experience a second mini-season in fall, usually in September. The aftermath of a tornado in New Orleans. Since tornadoes run on warm air, they usually occur in the afternoon or at night, after hours of sun exposure has heated up the air enough to become unstable and ready to rise. Tornado season requires the right conditions. Most powerful of all are EF-5 tornadoes, which have winds above 200 miles an hour. A lot of thunderstorms happen but a thunderstorm that destroys the most is the tornado. Tornado’s effect depends on its strength. Brenner is also a published sci-fi author. “Don’t become jaded by a false alarm,” Schyma says. Tornadoes are created by severe thunderstorms, with the most violent ones arising from huge, rotating “supercell” thunderstorms. North America's lack of east-west mountain ranges lets huge air masses from the Arctic, the Southwest and the Gulf of Mexico move freely over the continent, which they do vigorously in spring and summer. Is climate change making winters more severe? The most powerful tornado in U.S. history was the so-called Tri-State Tornado, which killed 695 people when it struck parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in March 1925. You may also see broken tree branches and small trees get pushed over. Within the storm, a strong vertical wind shear causes a horizontally rotating cylinder of air. Tornadoes produce the strongest winds on Earth, but they owe all their energy to the chaotic clouds that birth them. Tornadoes are caused when a cloud of the right size precipitates rapidly releasing heat, which causes it to rise, and creates a vacuum under it. EF-1: 86 to 110 mph winds cause damage to mobile homes including complete rollovers. A tornado, or twister, is a rapidly rotating column of air that stretches from clouds at the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. Provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Dixie Alley" is another U.S. region frequented by funnel clouds, hugging the Gulf Coast and also powered by its outflow of warm, moist air. EF-4: 166 to 200 mph winds can destroy well-constructed and stick-built homes, throw cars into the air and make debris fly everywhere. Knowing what to do when you see a tornado, or when you hear a tornado warning, can help protect you and your family. Tornadoes spin violently as they siphon up any remaining humidity, a last-ditch effort to keep their thunderstorms going — similar to finishing a drink with a straw. The three air layers consist of a layer of warm and humid air with strong south winds near the ground, cold air in the upper atmosphere pushed around by strong west and southwest winds and a very warm, dry layer of air sandwiched between these upper and lower air levels. When tornadoes touched down in eastern Alabama on Sunday, they killed at least 23 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage — adding another grim chapter to the annals of the most violent of all windstorms. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research: A Terrible Tornado, Illinois State University Extension: Enhanced Fujita Scale, Washington State University: Tornado Facts. Dax Leandro salvages clothing from the wreckage of his friend's home after two back-to-back tornadoes touched down, in Beauregard, Alabama, on March 4, 2019. Before a thunderstorm forms, winds begin quickly changing speed and direction. But what exactly causes tornadoes to form, and what makes them so destructive? Tornado alley covers land in the lowland areas of the Mississippi River, the lower Missouri River valleys and Ohio. These twisters cause relatively light damage, such as broken tree branches and exterior damage to houses. When a tornado is nearby, seek shelter right away. In 2007, an updated version called the Enhanced Fujita scale that rates wind strength differently replaced the original Fujita scale. “If you can’t get underground, get to a lowest level and put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” says Hank Schyma, a storm chaser in Houston. EF-2 and EF-3 tornadoes, with winds of 111 to 165 miles an hour, can cause severe damage — uprooting trees, tearing off roofs and lifting cars, trucks and even trains off the ground. The largest tornado touched down in May of 2013 near Moore, Oklahoma resulting in a path of destruction that spanned 2.6 miles across and 16.2 miles long.