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Tornadoes

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Tornados

By
Matt Daniel

June 23, 2014

2014 PHSC 210-B14 LUO
Tom Williams

Introduction Tornadoes are a type of windstorm that are common when the weather begins to get warmer. They are one of Mother Nature’s deadliest forces and they leave little time to prepare for their destruction. They are formed from a midaltitude cyclone or associated with a super cell thunderstorm, in the United States during the months April-June. Tornadoes are measured using the Enhances Fujita scale (EF-Scale) and are measured based of the amount of destruction they cause. At this time researchers continue to learn and process new information about tornadoes and work on predicting their occurrence. General Overview

Tornadoes, also known’s as twisters or cyclones, are one of natures most destructive forces. Tornadoes are sporadic in occurrence and can also produce violent winds. They are violent windstorms that take the form of a vortex, or a rotating column of air. (Thunderstorm Hazards-tornadoes, 2014) In these columns of are the air pressure can drop drastically making it sometimes as much as 10% lower than immediately outside these vortexes. (Lutgens; Tarbuck, 2014, Pg. 461) The much lower pressure in the center of the air column is drawn down and air near the ground then rushes into the tornado from all directions. As the air streams inward it is then spiraled upward around the center core until this air eventually merges the air in the super cell thunderstorm. Maximum winds can sometimes approach 480 kilometers per hour according to Lutgens and Tarbuck. These air columns become visible when they begin to pick up dust and debris as well as well as when they begin to contain condensation. When these columns of air do not produce any physical damage the visible portion is simply called a funnel cloud. Suction Vortices are smaller whirls that may exist within a single vortex of stronger tornadoes. These suction vortices have diameters of about 10 meters and rotate rapidly. It is because of these smaller vortices inside the tornado that the phenomena of one area of land looking completely undamaged while another area may suffer catastrophic damage. (Lutgens; Tarbuck, 2014, Pg. 461)

Tornados produce high winds and heavy rainfall and sometimes even damaging hail. These tornados form in response to any type of severe weather such as a cold front of a tropical cyclone. Less than 1% of thunderstorms produce a tornado but there does seem to be a precondition link associated with the formation of a tornado in these severe thunderstorms. This is the development of a mesocyclone. According to Lutgen and Tarbuck a mesyclone is a vertical cylinder of rotating air, and the formation of these large vortexes precedes the formation of a tornado by around 30 minutes.

The atmospheric conditions play a vital role in the development of tornadoes. As stated previously tornados are spawned by severe thunderstorms. Conditions for these storms become most likely in the months of spring. Air masses associated with the middle-latitude cyclones due have differing conditions. Two contrasting air masses of continental polar air from Canada, which remains very cold and dry, and the maritime tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico, which remains very warm, humid and unstable tend to likely meet in central United States. This is because there are no significant barriers to separate this area from the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore this are of the US tends to generate the most in numbers as well as the most in destructive nature. (Lutgens; Tarbuck, 2014, Pg. 461)

Tornados tend to range from 150-600 meters in diameter and can travel across a landscape at approximately 30 miles per hour according to Lutgens and Tarbuck page 459. Although many tornadoes due form during the spring months many of these tornados are comparatively weak and short lived. Most of the tornadoes have a lifetime of about 3 minutes or less. On the other hand there are the infrequent but devastating tornados, which can last in excess of 3 hours and produce damaging winds of up to 90 miles and hour. Methods of Study and Tools Used

The potential for the destruction of tornadoes depends mainly of the strengths of the wind that is generated by the storm. There has been a wide array of tornado strengths, sizes, as well as lifetime has been monitored. The most used guide to rate tornadoes rates the intensity of the tornado and it is called the Enhanced Fujita intensity scale of also known as the EF-scale. This is used to assess the damage that the storm produces since the winds of the tornado can not be measured directly. Although this can be helpful it is not perfect and presents with many drawbacks. Some of these drawbacks are that although a tornado may cause many deaths, these deaths are usually a result of debris. Also many well-constructed buildings can withstand the winds of a tornado whereas poorly constructed or older buildings usually cannot. A weak tornado is considered a (EF-0 and EF-1) a violent tornado is considered to be a (EF-4 and EF-5). The sporadic and relatively short-lived nature of these storms makes them among the hardest to predict. Although because of the devastation these storms have the potential to cause monitoring and detection is very important for meteorologist. A tornado watch is an alert to the public that there is a possibility of a tornado in a specified area for a specific time. A tornado warning is an issuance by the national weather service when a tornado has been spotted.

New Discoveries
In the last 50 years new discoveries and improved forecasts as well as advances in technology contributed to a decline in tornado related deaths. These deaths have been reduced due to the advancement in the technology of Doppler radar. Doppler radar is able to perform the tasks of a conventional radar but it also is able to detect motion. Therefore it benefits in the identification of the formation and development of the mesocyclone. Which is the rotating wind system that generates within the lower part of a thunderstorm. Trained observers continue to form an important part of the warning system because of the subjective nature of the information that Doppler radar provides. Although, as a research tool the Doppler radar provides data on the formation of tornados as well as helps meteorologist gain new information on thunderstorms development and structures. The Doppler radar is significantly improved the ability of meteorologist to track thunderstorms and issue warnings. (Lutgens; Tarbuck, 2014, Pg. 461)
Unanswered Questions
Although Dopplar radar has helped to issue more warning to prepare citizens for a potential tornado they have not been able to answer how/why each tornado is different in size and destructibility. Scientist are also unable to predict which way a tornado may go they can give a general estimate of the path but not a specific one. Scientist also are unable to answer the question of specifically how fast the winds associated with a tornado are. They can make a generalization and can then rate the tornado based on destructiveness.
Conclusion
In conclusion tornados are amazing creations by natures that may result in a simple windstorm of can leave a path of destruction in their wake. It is important to head warnings when issued by the National weather service and to make sure you stay out of the potential pathway of these storms. There is still much to be discovered by scientist about tornados but Doppler radar has given scientist the ability to detect motion. This gives scientist the ability to see which storms have the mesocyclone within the thunderstorm, which means these storms may be more likely to turn into a tornado.
Bibliography Page

NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory. (n.d.). NSSL: Severe Weather 101: Tornadoes. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/
Lutgens, F., & Tarbuck, E. (2014). Chapter 14: Weather Patterns and Severe Weather . Foundations of Earth Science ( ed., ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson .
Tornadoes. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.ready.gov/tornadoes
Storm Aware. (n.d.). Storm Aware. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://stormaware.mo.gov/tornado-facts-history/
Thunderstorm Hazards - Tornadoes. (n.d.). NWS JetStream -. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorms/tornado.htm

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