TWISTER

                        FACTS


Written by Alexis Carey



When air begins to spin rapidly in a column which extends from a thunderstorm cloud to the ground it makes a tornado. The cloud you will see is called a cumulonimbus. This is a low pressure storm.



Before there is a thunderstorm, a change in the direction of wind, increase in wind speed and height can create a invisible spinning funnel in the lower atmosphere.  This funnel begins to  move from horizontal to vertical because of the rising air in the thunderstorm.  The spinning winds can be 2-6 miles wide within the storm.  This spinning area is where most strong and violent tornadoes are formed. 


Weak tornadoes have wind speeds of 110mph or less. Strong tornados are 110-205mph. Violent tornadoes have wind speeds of 205-250+mph. The chart below is called a Fujita Intensity Scale, it measures how severe the tornado is.




The types of percipitation you would find during a tornado are hail and rain.



Tornadoes can occur in many parts of the world.  However, they most often happen in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.



One of many tornado disasters ocurred March 18, 1925.  This was called the Tri-State Tornado.  This tornado traveled 219 miles from Ellington, Missouri, across the tip of Illinois and on to Princeton, Indiana, killing 695 and injuring 2,027 people.  Annapolis, Missouri, Gorham and Parrish, Illinois and Griffin, Indiana were almost completely destroyed from this deadly tornado. 



In case in a tornado you should:

  • Find cover in a low place like a basement.  If you do not have a basement go to the innermost room of the building.
  • Kneel on the floor and cover your head with your hands.

Works Cited

Google Images:

 “1925 Tri-State Tornado.” http://disasters.albertarose.org/tristate.html. 11/22/09.

“Cumulonimbus.” http://www.weatherreport.com/Local-weather-forecasts-Cloud-Reading.asp.

                11/22/09.

 

“F1 Tornado.” http://messinginc.com/StormGallery.aspx. 11/22/09.

“Fujita Pearson Tornado Scale.” http://www.fema.gov/kids/fscale.htm. 11/22/09.

“Tornado Alley.”  http://franklin.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/04/tennessee_tornado_alley_1.php.

                11/22/09.

 

 “Tornado Diagram.” http://www.valdosta.edu/~kathsmith/topic.html. 11/22/09.

“Tornado Formation.” http://www.britannica.com/thunderstorms_tornadoes/ocliwea124v4.html.

                11/22/09.

 

“Tornado Safety.”

http://www.danvilleva.gov/page.asp?menuid=2820&sub1menuid=2830&sub2menuid=5064&s

b3menuid=8843&view=print. 11/22/09.

 

“Tri-State Tornado.” http://science.howstuffworks.com/most-destructive-storms.htm/printable.

                11/22/09.

 

Internet Pages:

 “Tornadoes…Nature’s Most Violet Storms.” http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html.

                11/22/09.

Books:

Archer, Jules.  Tornado!. New York: Crestwood House and Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991.

Engelbert, Phillis.  “Tornadoes,” The Complete Weather Resource. 1997, Volume 2, 10 pages.

Gale, Thomas.  “Tornadoes,”  Encyclopedia of Weather and Natural Disasters.  2008, Volume 4, 31

pages.