tornadoes big funnel shaped clouds that
can rip through a community and leave a
wake of destruction they can form in
seconds change direction in a heartbeat
and their devastation can last a
lifetime exactly how and why tornadoes
occur is still a bit of a mystery but an
indication that one is forming is a wall
cloud fast-moving winds roll air below
into a horizontal vortex above opposing
surface similar to a spinning to warm by
the Sun buoyant air near the ground
begins to lift a section of the
horizontal vortex into a vertical
position the vortex extends toward the
ground as it picks up speed anything in
its path can be ripped apart or thrown
in the air upper-level winds tilt the
rotating updraft called a mesocyclone
this allows a storm to keep growing as
warm air is sucked into the storm away
from the cool downdraft the vortex spins
like a top sometimes up to 300 miles per
hour and while some tornadoes move
slowly others can travel over the ground
at speeds of over 110 miles per hour the
widest tornado ever recorded the May
2013 El Reno tornado in Oklahoma was 2.6
miles across that’s wider across the
Manhattan research has allowed us to
identify the essential ingredients
needed for twisters to form in the u.s.
warm moist air typically from the Gulf
of Mexico cool air typically from Canada
and dry air typically from the Rockies
when these air masses collide they
create the perfect conditions for a
tornado nearly three-quarters of the
world’s tornadoes occur in the United
States and the peak season is between
May and June a majority touchdown in
Tornado Alley a section of the central
United States but tornadoes have been
recorded in all 50 states and on every
continent except Antarctica
tornadoes are very dangerous and you
should never underestimate their power
the average time between a tornado
warning and a strike is estimated at a
mere 13 minutes giving residents little
time to seek shelter on average
tornadoes killed 60 people every year in
the United States the deadliest tornado
in history was not in the United States
but a tornado that ripped through
Bangladesh in 1989 killing an estimated
1,300 people we measure the amount of
damage to land and property using the EF
scale which ranks tornadoes on six
different levels from zero a heavy
breeze that can uproot crops to level
five enough wind to pick up a house it’s
the desire to better understand them
that send scientists into the field
year after year in search of answers
that can hopefully save lives while
putting bears at risk
can rip through a community and leave a
wake of destruction they can form in
seconds change direction in a heartbeat
and their devastation can last a
lifetime exactly how and why tornadoes
occur is still a bit of a mystery but an
indication that one is forming is a wall
cloud fast-moving winds roll air below
into a horizontal vortex above opposing
surface similar to a spinning to warm by
the Sun buoyant air near the ground
begins to lift a section of the
horizontal vortex into a vertical
position the vortex extends toward the
ground as it picks up speed anything in
its path can be ripped apart or thrown
in the air upper-level winds tilt the
rotating updraft called a mesocyclone
this allows a storm to keep growing as
warm air is sucked into the storm away
from the cool downdraft the vortex spins
like a top sometimes up to 300 miles per
hour and while some tornadoes move
slowly others can travel over the ground
at speeds of over 110 miles per hour the
widest tornado ever recorded the May
2013 El Reno tornado in Oklahoma was 2.6
miles across that’s wider across the
Manhattan research has allowed us to
identify the essential ingredients
needed for twisters to form in the u.s.
warm moist air typically from the Gulf
of Mexico cool air typically from Canada
and dry air typically from the Rockies
when these air masses collide they
create the perfect conditions for a
tornado nearly three-quarters of the
world’s tornadoes occur in the United
States and the peak season is between
May and June a majority touchdown in
Tornado Alley a section of the central
United States but tornadoes have been
recorded in all 50 states and on every
continent except Antarctica
tornadoes are very dangerous and you
should never underestimate their power
the average time between a tornado
warning and a strike is estimated at a
mere 13 minutes giving residents little
time to seek shelter on average
tornadoes killed 60 people every year in
the United States the deadliest tornado
in history was not in the United States
but a tornado that ripped through
Bangladesh in 1989 killing an estimated
1,300 people we measure the amount of
damage to land and property using the EF
scale which ranks tornadoes on six
different levels from zero a heavy
breeze that can uproot crops to level
five enough wind to pick up a house it’s
the desire to better understand them
that send scientists into the field
year after year in search of answers
that can hopefully save lives while
putting bears at risk
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