Tornadoes can be very destructive in nature with their speed ranging from 110mph to 300mph.
Tornadoes can last to about 1-2 hours or 4 hours, in extreme cases, and can be as tall as 75 feet.
Tornadoes also occasionally occur in south-central and eastern Asia, northern and east-central South America, Africa, North West and South East Europe, West and South East Australia, and New Zealand.
Bangladesh has had at least 19 tornadoes in its history killing more than 100,000 people which is almost half of the total toll in the rest of the world.
The most destructive tornado recorded till date was the one Bangladesh on April 26, 1989, which killed approximately 1300 people.
The effects causes by tornado can be devastating and the damage caused can be one mile wide and 50 mile long.
For the detection of tornadoes, a Pulse-Doppler radar is used which collects data based on the velocity and reflectivity of the air of the surroundings. Effects like debris balls and hook echoes are observed
Like anything else on this planet, everything that takes birth, must die, even the tornadoes have a definite lifecycle. They last up to 1-2 hours.
A tornado normally appears transparent until it picks dust and mud from the ground.
Most tornadoes spin in the cyclonic direction while some rotate in the anticyclonic direction.
In the late 1980s, a tornado swept through Yellowstone leaving a path of destruction up and down a 10,000-foot mountain. It is also believed that the low pressure in a tornado causes buildings to “explode” as the tornado passes overhead.
Cyclonic is counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, anticyclonic is a high pressure or ridge circulation in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.
Areas which are prone to tornadoes have basement shelters.
Most tornadoes travel few miles before they exhaust themselves.
Tornadoes can be detected through weather radar and give advanced warning.
Tornadoes can be formed any time throughout the year but a major number of tornadoes are formed during late April to May.
The United States averages around 1200 tornadoes each year.
Tornadoes are sometimes called Twisters.
Do not open windows during severe storms as it allows dust and debris to enter the house.
Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over a body of water.
Only 2% of all tornadoes are labeled as “violent tornadoes” that can last over an hour.
People, cars, and even buildings may be hurled aloft by tornado-force winds—or simply blown away. Most injuries and deaths are caused by flying debris.
Tornadoes come in different shapes and sizes. Some may appear as wide funnel-shaped clouds, others as thin rope-like swirls stretching from the ground to the sky.
A tornado is a strong, turbulent column of fast moving air, keeping in contact with the earth’s surface.
Tornadoes are formed from the extremely large thunderstorms called super cells.