The document discusses tornadoes and provides information about their formation, location, and characteristics. Tornadoes form from warm moist air interacting with cold air masses. They most commonly occur in the central US, known as Tornado Alley. Tornadoes are still not fully understood as their behavior can be unpredictable, sometimes dissipating suddenly or combining with other tornadoes. The document also provides historical facts about significant tornadoes and discusses what can be done to improve warnings and shelter from these dangerous storms.

1. Tornadoes
Tracy Mascorro
Geog101

2. What is a Tornado?
* A rotating column of air
that is in contact with the
ground and cloud base.
Tornadoes form due to
warm moist air that is
blown in from the Gulf,
cold air from Canada, and
dry air from the Rockies
Nearly 1300 tornadoes hit
the US alone, on average,
in one single year.

3. Where is it?
Tornadoes are most commonly seen in the
United states, specifically in Tornado Alley,
but can be found in other countries as well.
The United States has 4 times the amount
of tornadoes than Europe.

4. The Unknown of a Tornado
Tornadoes are still being observed and are not quite
understood.
*Tornadoes could dissipate because
of the air stabilizing. This could be
caused by the cold outflow from other
storms.
*Every storm is different. While one
tornado includes hail, rain, and
lightening; another may have neither
of those.

5. “Tornadoes skip around?”
Not necessarily, as the definition clearly states, a tornado needs to have
contact with the ground and the cloud base in order to be defined as a
tornado. However, there are 3 reasons why this may seem possible:
•
•
•
The tornado is to weak to
cause damage
Multiple tornadoes happened;
but there was no survey done
to precisely separate their
paths (very common before
the 1970s); or
There were multiple
tornadoes with only short
separation, but the survey
erroneously classified them
as one tornado.

6. Sub Vortices
A sub vortice is a multi vortex tornado, containing multiple tornadoes that are usually orbiting the
center of a larger tornado circulation.
The larger tornado could also
absorb the other tornadoes but this
is very unusual.

7. Historical Facts
Deadliest Tornado: "Tri-state" tornado of 18 March 1925 killed 695
people
Biggest 24 Hr Outbreak: 175 tornadoes on 27-28 April 2011, with a
damage-rating breakdown of EF0: 59, EF1: 65, EF2: 20, EF3: 16,
EF4: 11, and EF5: 4
Biggest Tornado Recorded: 31 May 2013, a
deadly, multiple-vortex tornado near El Reno,
OK carved a maximum path width of 2.6 miles
Most Traveled Tornado: In 1917 traveled 570
kilometers (About 354 miles) across Illinois
and Indiana lasting well over 7 hours

8. Other Tornado-Like Features
Waterspout: A tornado over water
Landspout: Dust Tube Tornado
Gustnado: Gust Front Tornado
Fire Whirl: Small-scale, tornado-like circulations
can occur near any intense surface heat source
Dust Devil: Are
formed without
clouds and are very
weak.

9. The Problem with Tornadoes
*They are expensive because they cause a lot
of damage.
*There is not enough time between the
warnings and an arrival of a tornado to warn
people to take shelter.

10. What Can Be Done?
*Cities can provide more underground shelter for the homeless and people
living in apartments, as well as safe rooms for housing.
*Technology can be used to continue to research tornadoes and find a way to predict them sooner.
*Building codes need to be changed for areas that are prone for tornadoes.
*People need to be aware, and not ignore, the types of tornado warnings:
*Tornado Watch is when a certain area is alerted that it may be possible a tornado
may happen but it is not for certain.
*Tornado Warning is when a tornado has been spotted
and you
should take
cover
right away.

11. References
Mr. Thorne English 6 Class. (2003, March 21). Tornadoes. Retrieved from
http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/studshow/pinegrovems/justinkmichaelg/tornadoes - jk and mg.htm
National Weather Service. (2013, August 30). The online tornado faq. Retrieved from
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/
Pidwerny, M. (2008, May 28). Tornadoes. Retrieved from
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156662/
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2013, May 21). Tornadoes. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/naturalevents/tornadoes.html
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Tornado. In Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornadic

12. Pop Quiz!