TORNADOES

THE CAUSES OF TORNADOES

• Warm , moist air and cool dry air meeting
• Creating an instability in the atmosphere
• And a change of wind speed and direction; increased height
• Creates a invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere
• with rising air causing it to turn vertical and making a tornado

WALL CLOUDS

• A large localized and persistent lowering cloud formation
• That develops beneath a cumulonimbus cloud that often forms tornadoes
• This area usually indicates the strongest updraft in the storm

FUNNEL CLOUDS

• A funnel shaped cloud of condensed water droplets
• Associated with rotating column of wind and extending
• From the base of a cloud it not reaching the ground or a water surface

CATEGORY F 0-2

• The categories are based on the wind speed of the tornado
• Categories named after Dr. Theodore Fujita
• Ef-0 40-72 mph
• Ef-1 73-112 mph
• Ef-2 113-157

CATEGORIES 3-12

• Ef-3 158-206 mph
• Ef-4 207-260 mph
• Ef-5 261-318
• Ef6-12 anything greater than 319 mph

TORNADO ALLEY

• Tornado alley stretches from Texas all the
• Way to parts of Nebraska South Dakota and Minnesota
• This area is called this because this is where the warm moist air of the
• South and the dry cool air of the north meet

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

• Tornadoes can be very harmful to any type of environment
• They can cause major climate changes in an area , disrupts human activity
• And disrupt food chains and kill animals and people

TORNADO

• The most destructive tornado in the US is the
• Tri-state tornado on March 18, 1925 this tornado made its way through
• Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana it lasted 3.5 hours
• It was most likely f5 but tornadoes were not ranked in that era

WACO TORNADO

• The Waco tornado was a devastating tornado that tore trough
• Waco on March 11,1953 it caused 410.2 million dollars, 115 people
• Were killed, 597 were injured and 196 buildings and businesses were
• Destroyed and 217 sustained major damage

TORNADO SEASON

• Tornado season in the US is march through
• August due to the changes in temperature
• Causing an instability in the atmosphere