Like the big bad wolf on steroids, tornados are sometimes powerful enough to lift the roof right off of buildings. When the combined interior low pressure and exterior high pressure surpasses the force exerted downward by the roof, it lifts up and is swept away in the wind.
You might think the solution is to open windows and doors during a tornado warning to equalize the pressure. However, it really comes down to having a strong roof, since even in homes where the windows have been shattered, the roof has still lifted off and blown away.
The solution instead is to attach the roof more securely to the home. As of , new homes in hurricane zones must be built with the roof strapped to the walls and foundation to help protect against high winds.
You can employ this same tactic for protection from tornadoes. The pressure difference between the inside and outside of a home in a tornado can also cause the windows and patio doors to shatter in their frames. This type of tornado damage can occur miles away from the tornado itself. As powerful as they are, tornadoes account for only a tiny fraction of the energy in a thunderstorm.
What makes them dangerous is that their energy is concentrated in a small area, perhaps only a hundred yards across. Not all tornadoes are the same, of course, and science does not yet completely understand how part of a thunderstorm's energy sometimes gets focused into something as small as a tornado.
Where do tornadoes occur? Whenever and wherever conditions are right, tornadoes are possible. In the U. They occur mostly during the spring and summer; the tornado season comes early in the south and later in the north because spring comes later in the year as one moves northward.
They usually occur during the late afternoon and early evening. However, they have been known to occur in every state in the United States, on any day of the year, and at any hour.
What type of damage can tornadoes do? The damage from tornadoes comes from the strong winds they contain and the flying debris they create. It is generally believed that tornadic wind speeds can be as high as mph in the most violent tornadoes.
Wind speeds that high can cause automobiles to become airborne, rip ordinary homes to shreds, and turn broken glass and other debris into lethal missiles. The biggest threat to living creatures including humans from tornadoes is from flying debris and from being tossed about in the wind.
Can a tornado dig up the ground? There have been reports of tornadoes blowing dirt and creating a trench 3 feet deep, but it is very uncommon. Tornadoes have been known to strip asphalt pavement. How are tornadoes detected? Today, the development of Doppler radar has made it possible, under certain circumstances, to detect a tornado's winds with a radar see our section on Tornado detection. In some cases, it is also possible to detect the flying debris created by a tornado with radar.
Ordinary citizen volunteers make up what is called the SKYWARN network of storm spotters, who work with their local communities to watch for approaching tornadoes, so those communities can take appropriate action in the event of a tornado.
Spotter information is relayed to the National Weather Service. You can be a storm spotter too! Visit www. If your area is not listed, contact your local National Weather Service Office. How do tornadoes form? See our explanation in the Tornado Types section. Can tornadoes be predicted? Yes, but only to a limited extent. Although the process by which tornadoes form is not completely understood, scientific research has revealed that tornadoes usually form under certain types of atmospheric conditions.
When forecasters see those conditions, they can predict that tornadoes are likely to occur. However, it is not yet possible to predict in advance exactly when and where they will develop, how strong they will be, or precisely what path they will follow.
Once a tornado is formed and has been detected, warnings can be issued based on the path of the storm producing the tornado, but even these cannot be perfectly precise about who will or will not be struck. What are the people called who study tornadoes? People who study tornadoes are just research meteorologists or atmospheric scientists. You may have heard another term—storm chaser—but that really refers to people who chase tornadoes and storms for a hobby.
Research meteorologists have a scientific purpose behind their pursuit of severe weather. They have to come up with questions they think they can answer by taking certain measurements. What are the wind speeds in a tornado? We're not really sure what the highest wind speed might be inside a tornado, since strong and violent tornadoes destroy weather instruments.
We really only have measurements of the winds inside weaker tornadoes. How fast do tornadoes move? We don't have detailed statistics about this. Movement can range from almost stationary to more than 60 mph.
A typical tornado travels at around 10—20 miles per hour. How long is a tornado usually on the ground? Detailed statistics about the time a tornado is on the ground are not available. This time can range from an instant to several hours.
The average is about five minutes. The movie Twister was based upon work NSSL did in the mids using a gallon drum outfitted with various meteorological sensors.
NSSL tried for several years to put it in the path of an oncoming tornado, but had minimal success. It is possible that the technology could exist someday; however there are significant challenges with observations such as these.
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