Tornadoes Essay, Research Paper

Tornadoes

Tornadoes could be one of the most amazing phenomena?s ever, with their destructive power and it?s spontaneous movement it is looked at, as one of the most feared natural disasters ever. The United States is the #1 tornado country in the world. At an average 800 tornadoes a year that is the result of 80 deaths and 1500 injuries. Tornadoes can have damage pathways of one mile wide and 50 miles long. This is because the United States doesn?t have many mountain ranges to block the dry air coming from Canada and the cool moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico.

Tornadoes are caused by thunderstorms that have warm moist air and have eastward moving cold fronts. Tornadoes that occur in the winter and early spring are usually because of strong frontal systems.

A tornado usually looks like a funnel shaped cloud. Sometimes if a tornado is especially big though it will not have the funnel shaped cloud but just look like a big moving cloud. A tornado spins in a counter-clockwise motion, and usually travels a path of nine miles in length and ten yards in width at an average of 35-45 mph. Tornadoes can get up to speeds of 500 miles per hour, and wind speeds up to 250 mph. A tornado goes from the base of a thundercloud down and can either be black or gray.

It is not uncommon for more then one tornado to generate from the same severe storm. Sometimes if the storm gets real bad there can be an outbreak of tornadoes. Several tornadoes can destroy states. Destroying large cites and leaving people speechless.

Tornadoes can come in all different shapes and sizes. They can also go on in the United States at any time of the year. In the Northern area of the U.S peak tornado season is during the summer while in the Southern areas peak season is March through May.

Tornadoes are very dangerous phenomena?s. They have very high wind speeds and are rapid moving. Even though the very high wind speeds are dangerous, they are not the leading causes of death in tornado cases. They contribute to it though, the leading cause of death is people being struck with flying debris. Tornadoes can pick up trees, refrigerators, animals, automobiles, and even in one case an 88-ton train coach. Most people die due to head injuries where they have been struck with a rock or something of this sort.

There are all types of different variations of tornadoes. Some tornadoes may even be clear until it picks up types of debris. Waterspout tornadoes are most common along the gulf. They are weak tornadoes that form along water. These tornadoes tend to move inward towards land and causing death and damage.

Tornadoes have caused a lot of damage and killed many lives; this is why many precautions have been taken to make people aware of tornadoes. When a tornado watch has been issued for your area this does not mean a tornado is coming. A tornado watch means that it could be possible in your area and be aware of approaching storms. A tornado warning means that a tornado has been picked up on radar and if the sky becomes threatening move to a safer place. Now this arises another question. What to do when a tornado is approaching?

The first steps in tornado awareness are to know what?s going on. A person needs to know whether a warning or watch has been issued for your area. Then you should recognize the sky and the atmosphere around you and if the sky is threatening you should move to a safer place. You should stay away from windows, and get to the lowest point of your house. If you are in an automobile you should evacuate it and either seek shelter in a house nearby or lay in a ditch of some sort. The best thing to do if a tornado does come is always be ready for it, know what you need to do before the tornado is there and where to seek shelter in time. You need to talk to your family and make sure everyone knows what to do in case of a tornado. You should have a shelter and store at least three days worth of water and food for you and your family. It?s always better to be to safe then not ready at all!

Tornado safety is also very big in school. Schools are supposed to go over their tornado drills, and practice where to go to incase of a tornado. Schools that do not have basements or shelters are suppose to evacuate in interior rooms on the lowest floor, and to stay away from windows. Students should stay away from large rooms such as cafeterias and gymnasiums because these places provide no shelter during a tornado.

These are all important tornado facts and reasons of why this phenomenon occurs. Tornadoes are natural disasters that we can not do anything about, we just have to learn to live with them and beat smart about how we approach them. There is no preventing a tornado from occurring so we must just merely take all these precautions so we will know we?re safe.

Before thunderstorms develop, 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 thunderstorm 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.

References:

1.http://search.britannica.com/frm_redir.jsp?query=tornado&redir=http://www.outlook.noaa.gov/tornadoes/

2. http://www.dem.dcc.state.nc.us/pio/tor.htm

3. http://www.fema.gov/library/tornadof.htm

4. http://members.aol.com/tornadfoto/

5. http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4232/