A Natural Phenomenon: "The Tornado"  

By Jose Reyes                            

                (Click on Picture To Enlarge) More Great Pictures: WWW.Chaseday.com

               There is nothing stronger and with a more destructive force than a high-scale windstorm, known as a Tornado. Tornadoes develop from enormous weather systems. Tornadoes can be predicted but are very limited in preparation time because they develop very quickly. Weather men are sometimes accused of reacting too quickly in announcing a tornado and then they don't occur but most of the times their analysis are correct and their warnings save many lives. They are only human and they can make mistakes but they rather be safe than sorry. 

          Most houses and schools located in high risk tornado regions are equipped with "Tornado Shelters" which protect the inhabitants from the powerful suction force of these ungrateful monsters. Since tornado fatalities have been recorded, thousands of people and livestock have fallen victim in the United States only, not to mention, the billions of dollars in property damage. "Tornado Season" in the U.S. runs from March to July and an average of 1,200 touch down every year. An average 70 Americans die and 1,500 are injured as a result of tornadoes every year. About 90% of these dangerous tornadoes take place in an area known as "Tornado Alley", check this website for more details WWW.Tornadochaser.Net/Tornalley . To obtain the best and most accurate information on weather and predictions, from the "Tornado Alley" area, take a look here; WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/OUN.     

          Although they are more frequent at sea level, tornadoes can occur in any place, that includes mountains. Tornadoes normally occur in the summer time but can also occur in the fall and even in the winter time. They occur over the ocean also and are called Waterspouts. Tornadoes can reach up to 318 miles an hour and can create damage from a few yards short to 219 miles long. There is no mercy associated with this high-energy destructor as it violently twists and rips through any obstacle in its path. Shocking witness accounts explained how the tornadoes observed would be seen picking tractor-trailers up and tossing them 100 yards in distance, like toys. Tornado observers have seen houses explode, one by one in line, as these giant vacuum machines trespassed through neighborhoods. There have been many accounts of humans and of animals, who have been sucked up and later tossed in a different county a few miles away.  

Definition:                                        

             A Tornado is defined in scientific terms as a rotating column of a air ranging from a few yards to more than a mile in width. Meanwhile, spinning at a violent and destructive speed and extending in a funnel-shape and always accompanied by a Cumulonimbus Cloud. 

          Cumulonimbus Clouds are larger than regular harmless Cumulus Clouds and develop in an upward fashion by a convective updraft that can reach incredible speeds. These clouds can reach up to 39,000 feet and travel as individual towers or in a line of towers.    

Formation of the Tornado:            

         Basically before thunderstorms develop, a change in wind direction and an increase of wind speed with an increase of height creates an invisible, horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. 

          The rising air inside the thunderstorm creates an updraft which in turn, tilts the funnel from a horizontal position to a vertical and standing position.

          As the wall (Super Cell) or a group of walls (A Squall Line), slowly travel, heavy rain storms and in many cases hail storms lead the way. Right behind these treacherous rains the vicious tornado follows like a tail in the back. Tornadoes are naturally transparent until they touch down and start to pick up dirt that's when they become very visible to the human eyes and the intimidating power becomes evident.      

                     Pictorial illustration  (Click Picture to Enlarge)             

Ranking a Tornado:                                            

*** IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT F-SCALE WINDS: Do not use F-scale winds literally. These precise wind speed numbers are actually guesses and have never been scientifically verified. Different wind speeds may cause similar-looking damage from place to place -- even from building to building. Without a thorough engineering analysis of tornado damage in any event, the actual wind speeds needed to cause that damage are unknown.             

Historical View :                   

The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes

Statistics are based on the SPC tornado database. Having happened before the era of comprehensive damage surveys, some of these events may have been composed of multiple tornadoes along a damage path.

 

	DATE	LOCATION(S)	DEATHS
1	18 Mar 1925	Tri-State (MO/IL/IN)	689
2	06 May 1840	Natchez MS	317
3	27 May 1896	St. Louis MO	255
4	05 Apr 1936	Tupelo MS	216
5	06 Apr 1936	Gainesville GA	203
6	09 Apr 1947	Woodward OK	181
7	24 Apr 1908	Amite LA, Purvis MS	143
8	12 Jun 1899	New Richmond WI	117
9	8 Jun 1953	Flint MI	115
10	11 May 1953	Waco TX	114
10	18 May 1902	Goliad TX	114
12	23 Mar 1913	Omaha NE	103
13	26 May 1917	Mattoon IL	101
14	23 Jun 1944	Shinnston WV	100
15	18 Apr 1880	Marshfield MO	99
16	01 Jun 1903	Gainesville, Holland GA	98
16	09 May 1927	Poplar Bluff MO	98
18	10 May 1905	Snyder OK	97
19	24 Apr 1908	Natchez MS	91
20	09 Jun 1953	Worcester MA	90
21	20 Apr 1920	Starkville MS, Waco AL	88
22	28 Jun 1924	Lorain, Sandusky OH	85
23	25 May 1955	Udall KS	80
24	29 Sep 1927	St. Louis MO	79
25	27 Mar 1890	Louisville KY	76

Tornado Notes:                    

Most Destructive Tornado: The tornado that took place on March 18, 1925 was the longest and the most deadliest ever recorded. It lasted 3 and half hours and traveled 219 miles with an incredible average speed of 62 miles an hour and over 3 states (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana).

The 1974 "Super Outbreak": On April 3rd and 4th of 1974 a total of 148 tornadoes smashed into 13 states, with a damage path of more than 2,500 square miles, killing 330 and injuring 5,484 people. The tornado outbreak lasted 16 hours in total.

SciSim@Cubanology.com