Outline for Informative Speech
Your name
Tornadoes
Purpose: To inform the audience about tornadoes.
Thesis: In order to better understand tornadoes, it is important to explore what causes tornadoes to develop, how researchers classify types of tornadoes, and odd occurrences that may be associated with tornadoes.
Organizational Pattern: Topical
I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: What can hurdle automobiles through the air, rip ordinary homes to shreds, defeather chickens, and travel at speeds over 60 mph?
B. Relevance: Illinois rests on the boundary of what tornado researchers call tornado alley. This is the area of the country that receives the most tornadoes every year. According to a 1995 brochure distributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Illinois averages 27 tornadoes a year. Also, nearly 5 people die every year in Illinois as a result of tornadoes [ AID]. In fact, according to Tornado Project Online!, a website hosted by a company that gathers tornado information for tornado re searchers, the deadliest tornado in U.S. recorded history occurred in Murphysboro, Illinois. In 1925 a violent tornado killed 234 people in this Southern Illinois town.
C. Credibility: I grew up in the heart of tornado alley and have been interested in this weather phenomenon for a very long time. Also, I am a trained weather spotter for the Bloomington/Normal civil defense agency.
D. Thesis: In order to better understand tornadoes, it is important to explore what causes tornadoes to develop, how researchers classify types of tornadoes, and odd occurrences that may be associated with tornadoes.
E. Preview: So, let's crash through the causes of tornadoes, twist around the types of tornadoes, and blow through some of the oddities associated with tornadoes.
Transition: Initially, I'll crash through the causes of tornadoes.
II. Body
A. What causes tornadoes?
1. According to the USA Today Tornado Information website, a tornado is a "violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and pendant from a thunderstorm." Therefore, thunderstorms are the first step in the creation of a tornado.
2. The USA Today Tornado Information site also indicates that there are three key conditions for thunderstorms to form.
a. First, moisture in the lower to mid levels of the atmosphere.
Although the tornado of 10 June 1938 has been known about, at least anecdotally, within the scientific community since it was brought to light in 1939 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, this potentially rich source of historic information has lain fallow. It is within this rich field of mobile, American thinking that we undertake this effort. A team of scientists with courage, brains, and even heart brought the resources to bear on the challenge.
I have chosen the scene when the tornado actually hits during this scene there are two main characters Dexter and famous storm chaser Dr. Norman Gage. Dexter is eleven years old and loves to study the weather he says when he grows up he wants to be a storm chaser just like Dr. Norman Gage. The other main character is Dr. Norman Gage he has his own T.V. series showing him chase storms but in the scene he makes a terrible mistake of getting out of his car and trying to get some good footage of the tornado and gets swept away. Dexter’s mom and dad allowed him to go storm chasing while they left the town.
In the article by Jeff Piotrowski and the article on the Joplin Tornado: Evil Swirling Darkness, explains that the Joplin tornado took out the city of Joplin, Missouri. The tornado came into the town of Joplin on May 22, 2011 and was about a mile wide. Fires were attacking the city and homes from broken gas lines, and many people were buried alive in their houses. The fire department was gone and no one could find any police to help. Neighbors helped neighbors, pulling each other out of the ruble. Over 125 people had died all from being trapped and suffocated, to be cut open by sharp objects that fell. In the end many people had died and were injured during the tragic tornado that came through and left Joplin in horror and terror.
On May 22nd, 2011 a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing 162 people and injuring 1150. With wind speeds of 322km/h, the tornado made a total cost of over $2 billion for the city. 8000 structures were destroyed, 2000 of which were homes. Many people were left homeless. The tornado held an incredible EF5 rating on the Fujita scale, measured from the amount of destruction. The tragic event lasted 38 minutes, from 5:34 pm to 6:12pm. Cool wind from the Rockies in Canada and warm wind from the gulf of Mexico formed into a supercell thunderstorm creating a tornado in Kansas. The tornado rapidly moved into Joplin and continued on its 35 km path.
A tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 at around 5:40 pm. With a population around 50,559, it killed 161 people and injured approximately 1,100 people. The cost was an estimated $2.8 billion in damage. The American taxpayers had to give about $500 million in recovery money. This made it the deadliest tornado since 1950, which was when modern recordkeeping began. Since it was an EF5 tornado, it destroyed everything in its path. The city was ruined with only piles of debris left. It was a half-mile wide when it hit Joplin and grew to three-quarters of a mile wide. It destroyed nearly 7,000 homes in Joplin and damaged hundreds more. It covered over 1,800 acres of land. The warnings that the Joplin residents received were through three different ways. The tornado warning that was sent out for Joplin’s county was from Jasper County Emergency Operations Center (JCEOC) and they claim that the first siren went off at 5:11 pm. Two other warnings for the Joplin residents was they saw the tornado heading their direction, and the media coverage which was all local electronic media switched to wall-to-wall coverage seeing live footage of the tornado.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a tornado is a rotating column of air accompanied by a funnel shaped downward extension of a cumulonimbus cloud and having a vortex several hundred yards in diameter whirling destructively at speeds of up to three hundred miles per hour. There are six classifications of tornadoes, which are measured on what is known as the Fujita Scale. These tornadoes range from an F0 to an F5, which is the most devastating of all. Abnormal warm, humid, and oppressive weather usually precede the formation of a tornado. Records of American tornadoes date back to 1804 and have been known to occur in every state of the United States.
The types of tornadoes include landspout, multiple vortex tornado, and waterspout. Landspouts are a kind of tornado not associated with the mesocyclone of a thunderstorm...
Tornadoes form from wind shears. Wind shears form from warm air that is found at ground level; when it’s raised, the updraft meets a down draft of cooler air that is moved in the opposite direction of the warm air. When both are pushed towards the Earth, this creates wind shear. A spinning tube of air, created from wind shear; tilts upward into a vertical position, as the updraft sucks up moisture from the ground and into the sky. As the warm air cools high in the sky; this produces condensation. The condensation then produces thunderclouds, which rise to 30,000+ feet. The spinning formations of air are then trapped and lifted into the thundercloud. This begins as swirling motion and as continued (if the winds remained viable), a supercell will form. Mesocyclones as they are known are a rotating cloud. If these rotating clouds run into humid air it will spi...
May 4 began in much the same way as many other spring days in the Great Plains. Cool, dry air from the north clashed with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, creating the sort of unstable atmosphere that is so common to "Tornado Alley." An intense low pressure system moved in and stalled over the area during the morning hours, providing all the ingredients that meteorologists and storm chasing groups expect for severe weather. With an extremely volatile mix of conditions in place, the National Weather Service began to issue watches in anticipation of developing storm activity.
A tornado occurs in very powerful thunderstorms, and usually it occurs in a super cell. A super cell is a type of storm that already has rotation inside of it, called a mesocycle. A tornado begins to form when a downdraft of air pulls the mesocycle down towards the ground. A funnel begins to form, and when the funnel cloud finally touches down, it officially becomes a tornado. As warm, moist air (the fuel of a tornado) is drawn into the tornado, it matures...
A tornado requires some basic ingredients to come together. First, energy in the form of warm, moist air must exist to feed thunder storms. Second, there must be a top layer of hot, dry air called a cap. This air acts like a lid on a simmering pot, holding in the warm air that’s accumulating in the atmosphere below until the storm’s ready to burst. Last, there has to be rotating winds speeding in oppositedirections at two different levels in the atmosphere, a phenomenon called wind shear, can cause the storms to rotate. Tornado alley is perfectly situated to meet these requirements. (1)
With an average of 13 minutes before a tornado strikes, each second counts. Scientists created unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to study tornadoes and to improve the warning time. The UAVs penetrate tornadoes and gather data with cameras and other advanced gadgets. The scientists possess the resources and the technology to study tornadoes, but the authority to use UAVs due to the U.S government refusal. One can see the UAVs are necessary by looking at tornadoes, drones, and the warning time.
Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching.
Other than the sweltering heat in the summer time in Oklahoma City, the only dilemma are tornadoes. I grew up in the middle of this “tornado alley” and eventually developed a sixth sense for detecting tornadic activity. Even in the 1980’s tornadoes were known for their violent crime wave, vandalizing neighborhoods and kidnapping children and adults. Imagine a beautiful evening in Moore, a suburb lying on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. Mom is in the kitchen and the kids are playing in the yard. In a matter of minutes, the sky turns green and large cumulonimbus clouds start to churn. A crackle of thunder sends a chill up your spine, followed by a strong odor of ozone that fills the air as Mother Nature’s fireworks illuminate the dark sky. Large golf ball sized hail sting your window and a melody of car alarms play in the streets. You panic as the lights inside your house start to flicker as the tornado touches down and it is reported as an F-5, the largest of all the tornadoes, tearing through houses with awe-inspiring velocity. The tornado engorges cars, trees, and small houses as it approaches your house. Being prepared, you descend to the storm cellar and brace yourself for the full impact of the unforgiving monster. The tornado has left its calling card on your block. A scrap of metal and glass resembling your car is found on your next door neighbor’s lawn. The houses on your block have vanished, leaving behind a scene of ultimate destruction. Families stand outside telling stories of how their child was stripped right out of their hands as the behemoth rampaged through their houses.