Tornadoes

1585 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Descriptive paragraph on a tornado

A tornado is a violent windstorm characterized by a twisting, funnel-shaped cloud. It is spawned by a thunderstorm (or sometimes as a result of a hurricane) and produced when cool air overrides a layer of warm air, forcing the warm air to rise rapidly. Tornadoes can cause a lot of damage and even deaths. The damage from a tornado is a result of the high wind velocity and wind-blown debris. Tornado season is generally March through August, although tornadoes can occur at any time of year. They tend to occur in the afternoons and evenings: over 80 percent of all tornadoes strike between noon and midnight. From 1950-1995 the total number of tornadoes in Michigan was 722, with an average of 5 deaths and 3,217 injuries (70 a year average) resulting from the storm a year.
Tornadoes are rated on a scale called the Fujita Scale. The storms are labeled with the letter F and then a number 0-6. The Fujita Scale is used to rate the intensity of a tornado by examining the damage caused by the tornado after it has passed over a man-made structure. The table below shows the ratings for a tornado with the Fujita Scale.

The Fujita Scale

F-Scale Number Intensity Phrase Wind Speed Type of Damage Done
F0 Gale tornado 40-72 mph Some damage to chimneys; breaks branches off trees; pushes over shallow-rooted trees; damages sign boards.
F1 Moderate tornado 73-112 mph The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.
F2 Significant tornado 113-157 mph Considerable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; light object missiles generated.
F3 Severe tornado 158-206 mph Roof and some walls torn off well constructed houses; trains overturned; m...

... middle of paper ...

...erfall or rushing air at first, but turning into a roar as it comes closer. The sound of a tornado has been likened to that of both railroad trains and jets.
· Debris dropping from the sky.
· An obvious "funnel-shaped" cloud that is rotating, or debris such as branches or leaves being pulled upwards, even if no funnel cloud is visible.
If you see a tornado and it is not moving to the right or to the left relative to trees or power poles in the distance, it may be moving towards you! Remember that although tornadoes usually move from southwest to northeast, they also move towards the east, the southeast, the north, and even northwest.
Encourage your family members to plan for their own safety in many different locations. It is important to make decisions about the safest places well BEFORE you ever have to go to them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.tornadoproject.com
2. www.stormstock.com
3. Encyclopedia Britanica
4. Earth Science- Tenth Edition
5. www.Discovery.com

Show More
Related

  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tornado Case Study

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    The history-making documentary footage made available by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has been subjected to careful analysis. As noted by Grazulis (1993; pp. 879-880), the tornado in question was part of an outbreak in Kansas on that day, including a violent killer tornado near Clyde, Kansas, and a "barn shifting" F1 tornado in Rooks county. It seems that shifting human structures was a common feature of tornadoes on that

    Read More

  • Joplin Tornado Essay

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Joplin, Missouri after the Tornado

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Super Tornado Outbreak of 1974

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Disasters and Natural Hazards

    2120 Words  | 5 Pages

    Regina was hit by its first ever tornado on June 30, 1912, but it is still the deadliest tornado in terms of human lives lost to have occurred in all of Canada to date. The tornado was estimated to have been an F4 in magnitude, with wind speeds of 333-418 km/h, and struck without warning to many. It spawned 18 km to the south of Regina and cut northward through the city, passing through it in roughly three minutes. In the event, a total of 28 lives were lost, more than 200 were injured, more than 2500 were left homeless, and $1.2 million of primary monetary losses was incurred at time, which left Regina in debt from reconstruction costs for 40 years.

    Read More

  • Oklahoma Tornadoes and Their Destructive Ways

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tornadoes are “violent windstorms that take the form of a rotating column of air or vortex that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud” as Tarbuck and Lutgens (2012) explain.

    Read More

  • F4 Tornado Research Paper

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is a tornado? A tornado is “a rapidly rotating vortex or funnel of air extending groundward from a cumulonimbus cloud.” (Haddow et al) Tornadoes produce destructive winds that can destroy everything that comes in its path. Meteorologists use the speed of the winds to classify the strength of tornadoes on the Fujita-Pearson scale. The weakest tornadoes, F0, have wind speeds from 65-85 miles per hour, all the way to an F5 tornado, with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour.

    Read More

  • The Greensburg Tornado

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    On May 4, 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by an exceptionally strong tornado. With maximum winds estimated to be in excess of 205 miles per hour, and leaving a damage path as wide as 1.7 miles, the storm would go on to be rated a rare EF5, the first recorded in the United States since 1999. When the storm finally subsided, 95 percent of Greensburg had been destroyed, killing eleven people.

    Read More

  • Hurricane Floyd

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    A hurricane is easily the most powerful storm that mother nature can throw at us. Every year, people who live on the coasts fight hurricanes with no dismay. A hurricane is simply too strong. Their winds reach speeds of 75 mph. Winds around the eye wall can reach 130 to 150 mph.

    Read More

  • Inside Hurricanes By Mary Kay Carson

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    The eyewall is a ring of tall thunderstorms that surrounds the eye. The fiercest winds are here -- up to 112 mph with gusts up to 189 mph. The rainbands are these curved bands are packed with thunderstorm clouds. They can reach hundreds of miles from the eye and produce rain, lighting, and, sometimes, tornadoes.” The Saffir-Simpson Scale shows you the intensity of the hurricane. According to Inside Hurricanes by Mary Kay Carson, “Category 1 is the weakest of the 5 categories and has wind speeds ranging from 74-95 miles per hour. Category 2 wind speeds range from 96-110 miles per hour. Category 3 has wind speeds ranging 111-130 miles per hour. The wind speeds in Category 4 range from 131-155 miles per hour. Category 5 is the strongest which have winds speeds that reach up to 156 and above miles per hour.” When it comes to hurricanes everyone wants you to be as safe as possible, so there is two things that you should be on alert for; they are hurricane watches and hurricane

    Read More

  • The Worst Tornado that Hit Pennsylvania in 1985

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania, a reported 21 tornadoes swept through three towns (Haas). Consequently, the tornadoes that rampaged through had caused a grave amount of damage to everyone who was unfortunate enough to be in their paths. Most who speak of these tornadoes often categorize them all into three words, “the Albion tornado,” because Albion was, not only the largest of the three towns hit in Northwestern Pennsylvania, but also the town that had needed the most aid as a result of the damage from these tornadoes. The tornado that had pulverized Albion was in fact, ranked as an F-4 on the Fujita scale (Hahn). To clarify, F-4 tornadoes can have winds ranging from 210 to 260 miles per hour and can without a doubt, have winds so powerful that objects such as cars and tractor trailers could be airborne for distances of 300 feet or less! "It was like a war zone," Tara Miller said to describe the aftermath of the dubbed, "Albion tornado." “There was not one spot that didn’t have damage and rubble spewed about it, from the main streets to the back roads,” Tara she added, over 100 homes were smash...

    Read More

  • Storm Chasing a Race to Save Lives

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Category 5 Hurricane Research Paper

    440 Words  | 1 Pages

    Write or reviewyour family emergency plan; Where you will meet if you are are separated during the storm

    Read More

  • A Destructive Tornado

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Speech on Tornados

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Tornadoes

Open Document