30 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Tornado | Amazing Facts 4U
- Tornadoes are usually the extreme result of a very large thunderstorm called a supercell.
- Tornadoes begin when the sun heats up the surface of the land. As the warm, less heavy air begins to rise, it meets the colder, heavier air above it. The faster-moving air begins to spin and roll over the slower wind gathering pace and growing in size. Initially it is an invisible, horizontal wind spinning and rolling like a cylinder.
- Later stronger and more powerful warm air forces the spinning winds vertically upward, causing an updraft and gathering momentum and creating a vortex. Now it moves in the direction of the thunderstorm winds. When the pointed part of the tornado touched the ground from the cloud, it is often referred to as ‘touch down’. As it moves it rips off things along its path. Its bottom end that stays in touch with the earth has a cloud of debris and dust surrounding it.
- Tornadoes also go by the name of Twisters.
- The whirling wind in a tornado can reach a speed of 300 miles per hour but usually stays anywhere between 110 and 300 mph. It is this wind speed that gives a tornado its destructive power.
- Usually, some of the Tornadoes are found to last for only a few minutes but they can last up to 2 hours. In extreme cases, a tornado can last up to 4 hours.
- Tornadoes can be really tall reaching the height of 75 feet!
- Tornadoes move forward and they can actually move at a speed of 73 miles or 117 kilometers an hour.
- Long-lasting Tornadoes can leave a destruction trail which can be 50 miles long and 1 mile wide.
- Tornadoes have categories based on their destructive force. Their destructive force is measured using the Fujita Scale and are categorized as F1, F2, F3, F4, or F5 category Tornadoes.
- F5s are terrible and the worst of the lot! They are the most destructive Tornadoes known to humans. There are several factors that are considered while categorizing these nasty fellows such as duration, distance travel, wind speed and more.
- Tornadoes die just like everything else on this earth. They will last as long as their source of war air exists.
- A tornado is associated with rainfall. This rain drags a region of rapidly descending air region, which scientists call as RFD or rear flank downdraft. This drag in turn drags the area of organized rotation known as the Meso cyclone of the super cell from which the tornado originated. This drag eventually cools down the RFD and chokes the tornado by cutting off the warm air source and thereby dissipating the tornado.
- In 1925, the United States was hit by an F5 tornado that lasted for nearly 3.5 hours and traveled a distance of 219 miles. The tornado passed through parts of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana and is popular by the name Tri-State Tornado.
- Tornadoes do not have any consistent shape or structure. They can be long and thin like ropes or they can be wide and spiral.
- Tornadoes can occur over water bodies. These Tornadoes are known as waterspout tornadoes. There may be multiple-vortex Tornadoes!
- There is no open area that can be considered as tornado-safe.
- A tornado will look transparent when it starts until it actually hits the earth and starts picking up mud, dust and other debris.
- When a tornado just starts rising, the sky takes a characteristic greenish hue.
- Scientists make use of Pulse-Doppler radar for detecting Tornadoes. Data collection by this radar is based on the study of surrounding air reflectivity and velocity. Scientists also look for hook echoes and debris ball effects for detecting Tornadoes.
- Cyclonic spin is characterized by clockwise spin in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise spin in the northern hemisphere. Anti-cyclonic, on the other hand, is a ridge or high-pressure circulation in the southern and northern hemispheres.
- The fastest winds on earth are found in Tornadoes forming condensed water funnel.
- There is no specific time for tornado occurrences and a tornado can hit anytime throughout the year. However, the frequency of tornado occurrences is at its peak between April and May.
- Tornadoes will usually travel a few miles before they die out.
- Around 1200 Tornadoes hit the United States every year.
- Bangladesh ranks 3rd in terms of the frequency of Tornadoes. The US ranks first followed by Canada.
- Bangladesh was hit by the most destructive tornado ever recorded in entire world. The tornado claimed more than 1300 lives and hit Bangladesh in 1989 on April 26. The tornado left a trail of complete devastation within 6 square kilometers. Except for a few tree skeletons, no other standing infrastructures were found.
- The best place to hide during a tornado is a basement or any underground area.
- It is widely believed that a tornado can make a house explode if a low pressure is developed inside the tornado. The actual fact is that the debris inside a tornado slams against house causing greater structural damage.
- The noise made by Tornadoes vary and depend on the objects they pick and carry along their path. Tornadoes moving along open plain have little noise to offer.
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