Transcript Tornados - WLWV Staff Blogs

Tornados
What is a Tornado?
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A tornado is a violent rotation of air that comes in contact with the ground pendent from a
cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud but they are not always visible.
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Once the tornado reaches the ground, it starts to up debris around it. This can actually change
the color of the tornado, because some dirt in the southern states is actually a deep shade of
red
How are they formed?
Tornadoes are formed when thunderstorm form, and it has conditions that are very
violent. They start to develop near low-pressure areas of the high winds. The
warmer air moves upward and the cooler air downward. When these two masses
of air bump into each other, the main thunderstorm is formed. Fast moving, cold,
dry air meet moister, warmer air. Usually, cold air moves underneath warmer air. In
this case, though, air mass over-runs the warmer air. The warmer air then rushes
upward at fast speeds. Air also blows in from the sides. This creates strong,
twisting updrafts. This care of low-pressure becomes a tornado.
Variation of Tornados
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Weak:
69% of all tornados
Less the 5% of tornado deaths
Winds less the 110 mph
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Strong Tornadoes
29% of all tornadoes
Nearly 30% of all tornado deaths
May last 20 minutes or longer
Winds 110-205 mph
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Violent Tornadoes
Only 2% of all tornadoes
70% of all tornado deaths
Lifetime can exceed 1 hour
Lifetime can exceed 1 hour
What is a Tsunami?
• A tsunami is a series of waves generated by an
undersea disturbance such as an earthquake.
From the area of the disturbance, the waves
will travel outward in all directions, much like
the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a
pond. The time between wave crests may be
from 5 to 90 minutes, and the wave speed in
the open ocean will average 450 miles per
hour
What is a Hurricane?
• A hurricane is an intense, rotating oceanic weather
system that possesses maximum sustained winds
exceeding 119 km/hr (74 mph). It forms and intensifies
over tropical oceanic regions.
• Hurricanes are generally smaller than storms in midlatitudes, typically about 500 km (311 miles) in
diameter. At the ocean’s surface, the air spirals inward
in a counterclockwise direction. This cyclonic
circulation becomes weaker with height, eventually
turning into clockwise (anticyclonic) outflow near the
top of the storm
Why Do Hurricanes Form and Where
Are They Found?
• Hurricanes form and intensify over oceanic regions. They
require sea-surface temperatures of at least 26°C (80°F)
and the influence of the earth’s rotation to initiate a
spinning circulation (Coriolis effect).
• The adjacent map shows the places on earth where these
conditions are met for hurricane formation. Hurricanes
generally form at the tail of the arrow and typically track
following the arrow to its arrowhead.
• In North America, we call a storm that results from these
conditions a hurricane. In other parts of the world, a
hurricane is known by other names, including "typhoon" in
the Western North Pacific and "tropical cyclone" in the
Indian Ocean and the Western South Pacific
• tornado
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• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VoMesUd2Q
• tsunami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuqKhXZkkY&fea
ture=related
• hurricanehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76Qn7b
pCsQ&feature=related
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