A tornado is a column of rapid air that is most common in North America! Tornadoes are a powerful phenomenon!
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about it!
- A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air
- That is in contact with both the surface of the Earth
- And a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud
- The windstorm is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone
- Although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around
- Which, from an observer looking down toward the surface of the earth
- Winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
- Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes
- And they are often visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud
- With a cloud of rotating debris
- And dust beneath it
- Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h)
- Are about 250 feet (80 m) across
- And travel a few miles (several kilometers) before dissipating
- The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour (480 km/h)
- Are more than two miles (3 km) in diameter
- And stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km)
- Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout, and waterspout
- Waterspouts are characterized by a spiraling funnel-shaped wind current
- Connecting to a large cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud
- They are generally classified as non-supercellular tornadoes that develop over bodies of water
- But there is disagreement over whether to classify them as true tornadoes
- These spiraling columns of air frequently develop in tropical areas close to the equator
- And are less common at high latitudes
- Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirl, and steam devil
- Tornadoes occur most frequently in North America
- Particularly in central and southeastern regions of the United States colloquially known as tornado alley
- As well as in Southern Africa
- Northwestern and southeast Europe
- Western and southeastern Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh
- And adjacent eastern India
- And southeastern South America
- Tornadoes can be detected before or as they occur through the use of Pulse-Doppler radar
- By recognizing patterns in velocity and reflectivity data
- Such as hook echoes or debris balls
- As well as through the efforts of storm spotters
- There are several scales for rating the strength of tornadoes
- The Fujita scale rates tornadoes by damage caused
- And has been replaced in some countries by the updated Enhanced Fujita Scale
- An F0 or EF0 tornado, the weakest category, damages trees
- But not substantial structures
- An F5 or EF5 tornado, the strongest category, rips buildings off their foundations and can deform large skyscrapers
- The similar TORRO scale ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes
- Doppler radar data, photogrammetry, and ground swirl patterns (trochoidal marks) may also be analyzed to determine intensity
- And assign a rating
