How do i know that a tornado is about to happen?

Question

I currently have a tornado watch for where i live and i was wondering what the signs are that one is about to happen? funny coloured/shaped clouds?

THanks to everybody who wrote in. We did not directly have a tornado, but there was one 45 minutes down the road. fun, fun

Answer 1

there would be mammatus clouds.(mammatus
clouds are lumps in the clouds.
Just in case one does hit here's the Fujita Scale.
F0 40-72 mph Little Damage
F1 73-112 mph Minor Damage
F2 113-157 mph Roof Gone
F3 158-206 mph Walls Collapsed
F4 207-259 mph Blown Down
F5 260-318 mph Blown Away

Good luck.I hope you stay safe.

Answer 2

Usually a siren will go off when one is in your area. However, sirens don't always work and sometimes they are too late, as tornadoes form rapidly and dissapate within a few minutes. A watch is not a huge deal, it simply means conditions are right for the formation of a tornado. However, keep your eye on the news or the weather channel and the conditions outside as well. The weather systems are such that they are able to track the route of a located tornado, but it has to be spotted first. That means one could pop up over your house and they wouldn't know about it until someone reported the sighting. So, you need to be weary of your surroundings. It usually gets very dark and there seems to be a greenish or yellowish hue, also, it will get very, very windy. You don't want to wait around to see a funnel forming, because tornadoes are fast forming and move quickly, so it's better to take some water, any pets, and a pillow to a safe place (more on that in a second). Or, if the weather channel or local news issues a warning for your area, its a good idea to head for a safe place. So what do I mean by a safe place? Go into your basement and sit under the stairs and cover your head with a pillow. Or, you can go in your bathtub with a mattress over you-I actually was told this by a weatherman, who said that tubs are almost always left behind even when an entire house is destroyed because they are heavy and they are grounded by the plumbing-a mattress is also heavy (meaning it won't easily blow away), and will protect you from flying debris. Make sure to bring a water bottle and any pets you have if and only if you have time to make it with them-if you look outside and stuff is flying all over and you hear what sounds like a freight train-make a run for it! Its all over in a matter of minutes, but that doesn't leave you a lot of time to get where you need to be-so it's better to just be prepared and chill out in your basement or your tub (with mattress nearby) with a book or a magazine until the storm passes. Well, I hope I could be of some help! I've been in your situation several times before, and made it through a tornado with my family before. Hope the storm passes without damage! Good luck!

Answer 3

Warning Signs that a Tornado May Develop

There are several atmospheric warning signs that precipitate a tornado’s arrival:


A dark, often greenish, sky (the orange and other colors are after the funnel has touched down and picked up dust and dirt)

Wall clouds or an approaching cloud of debris

Large hail often in the absence of rain (also watch for funnels hiding behind walls of rain)

Before a tornado strikes, the wind may die down and the air may become very still (With in a mile of the tornado you will feel the pressure in the air change. Animals will become very silent and the quite is eerie)

A loud roar similar to a freight train may be heard

An approaching cloud of debris, even if a funnel is not visible

Despite great strides made in meteorology that help us understand and predict tornadoes, there are still many unknown variables. Advance warning and proper precautions are the only certainties.


Tornadoes can occur at any hour, but usually strike during the late afternoon and early evening (3 to 9 p.m.). Most move southwest to northeast, but can move in any direction. They have an average speed of 30 mph, but speeds can vary from nearly stationary to 70 mph. Normally a tornado will stay on the ground no more than 20 minutes, however, one tornado can touch the ground several times in different areas.

Above all else there is no set pattern that makes them a sure prediction so these are simply rules of thumb. Keep your radio tuned (with batterypower) to your local station and be prepared to take cover. Hopefully your town has tornado sirens.

Answer 4

I just want to warn you that several of the answers you have gotten are crap. Tornadoes can happen anywhere on Earth--not just the States. Tornadoes can be embedded in rain--heavy rain doesn't mean that a tornado won't hit. And opening windows won't help anything. It was a recommendation from way back when (for hurricanes) that has since been disproven. And if you're already scared, watching the Weather Channel will just make you paranoid (that one is from personal experience).

Otherwise, yes--the tall, low, rotating clouds, green sky, and hail can be signs that a tornado has formed, but it is very unlikely that the building you are in will get hit by a tornado. Just listen for the warning and take shelter if you need to. I wish you the best of luck--I am terrified of tornadoes myself.

Answer 5

Watch the sky for any low hanging clouds that look as if they're forming a vertical funnel. There's most always a calm right before a tornado (with wind and rain preceding it) and a change in temperature. You won't hear any birds and most animals sense it and show erratic or strange behavior. Most times you just have a gut feeling and it's best to be safe than sorry so look for cover underground if possible. If that's not possible you can lie in the bathtub with a mattress over you or find a room in the center of the house that has no windows (a closet is good), hunker down and stay put until it's safe.

Answer 6

Most of the time, tornados are formed in GIANT, GIANT, HUGE, clouds. Much bigger than the ones that form thunderstorms. MUCH bigger.

If at any time, you see a cloud swirling, then that's a tornado forming right before your very eyes.

And yes, orange colored clouds can sometimes mean thunderstorms.

If I were you, I wouldn't be on the computer right now. It's a little too dangerous.

If you want any safety tips, your best bet is a basement. But if you don't have one, go to an interior room with no windows, like a bathroom or a closet. If you can, get under a sturdy piece of furniture, like a table. If you live in a mobile home get out. They offer little protection against tornadoes. Get out of automobiles. Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car, leave it immediately. If you’re outside, go to a ditch or low lying area and lie flat in it. Stay away from fallen power lines and stay out of damaged areas.

I hope you don't get a tornado in your area, but if you feel scared, keep in mind that more people die during THUNDERSTORMS than during tornadoes AND hurricanes combined.

Answer 7

The sky will turn a brassy color, there will be horizontal rain, with hail. The barometric pressure will drop suddenly. When these conditions are present, seek shelter immediately, preferably in a basement, or, if there is none available, a windowless room in the house, or a culvert alongside the road. Tornadoes are dangerous vortices of wind, caused by cold air meeting a warm front. The two start a swirling pattern as the warm moisture laden air rises above the colder, more dense air. When this happens, tornadoes are likely to occure. I hope this helps.

Answer 8

Usually you will see the sky turn a funny color and there may be a little wind, but everything else will be kind of eerie, like the world is still---no animals, no nature sounds---and quiet.

If the tornado is actually coming your way, you may see funnel clouds. Get to a safe area immediately!

If tornadoes occur often in your area, then there should be a tornado alert siren that signals you to get to a safe place.

They say that an inner room is safest, like a bathroom w/o windows, between a doorway of 2 inner rooms or a basement. Put a mattress over your head if possible, in case of falling debris.

Answer 9

If the tornado will starts upon your head, some hours/minutes before you see something like a "pyramidal cloud" appears in the sky.
But i saw it on Discovery Channel two years ago, i don't remember. But i know that a tornado is created by the crash of a great warm and wet wind against the "jet-wind" in the highest troposphere's location. The "jet-wind" is a cold wind which run at almost 500Km/h. When the crash become, a great number of cloud appear in the sky.
This it's all i know about tornado. I hope you will be able to find this storm before they will be started.
Ciao from Italy!

Answer 10

When a tornado is about to happen, there is always this eerie feeling, like everything seems so quiet around you except for the whistling sound of the wind. You will be able to see really really dark clouds. But the best way to find out if a tornado is about to happen, look out for a funnel amongst the clouds. The funnel is a tornado that hasnt touched the ground.

Answer 11

Well I was raised in Oklahoma in tornado country! I could see dark clouds spinning in the sky approaching our home and we'd go run to the cellar. We never had one hit our place, but we watched some dance across the country. Here's some things you need to know when a tornado is approaching and this is from my memory:
1. Huge dark cumulonibus clouds boiling and rolling in the sky. It gets really dark!
2. It gets really still right before the storm usually. Not always, but usually.
3. There could be striking lightning in the clouds.
4. Usually it gets not only still but hot and the air feels close on your face, like extreme humidity.
5. When a tornado is present in a cloud, the wind will slowly start picking up from nothing to gusts and then stronger and stonger, and if a tornado drops down, it is totally black from the debris it picks up and is spinning and dropping, like a huge twirling whirlwind, only it grows in size and strength. Generally is goes from SW to NE or E. It will also start hailing and you don't want to be out in it.
6. If you are warned a tornado is approaching, make sure you open some windows to keep the house from exploding when the storm hits it. Better to risk rain and save the explosion, rather than worry about it raining in.
6. You must seek shelter when you hear the trainlike sound, as that is the tornado itself. If you don't have a cellar, get in the bathtub with preferably a helmet and cover yourself up with blankets. Or get in an inside closet and shut the door.

I found a few sites for you to read about an impending tornado.

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/keepsafe/tornado.html

http://www.weather.com/safeside/tornado/warning.html

http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/tornadoes/during.asp

Above all, don't panic. Keep your head on and follow the safety rules. Few are killed in a tornado when they follow safety precautions.