how do i know when a tornado is about to happen i need as many answers as possible for my school report?

Answer 1

Liz, here is a copy/paste from an answer I gave to a similar question yesterday:





Whew...lots of interesting answers here. Dreamless, much of what everyone said before me CAN be signs of an approaching tornado, but tornadoes strike after, and during, a variety of different conditions.

You do not have to "get ready" upon the issuance of a tornado watch. That just means conditions are favorable for severe storms to occur that may also spawn tornadoes. Watches are usually issued when the sky is blue, basically. Warnings will be issued when a tornado has been confirmed or Doppler radar indicates a violently rotating mesocyclone capable of, or currently spawning a tornado.

Some 95% of all tornadoes are too weak to cause that "train" sound. All tornadoes make noise because of the wind, but not like an approaching train that persists for a long time. I don't know the exact percentage, but probably around 95% are F0 and F1 tornadoes, which can do significant damage, but nothing like stronger tornadoes.

Okay...so here's what to do.

Step 1: If you can, just go outside and look around every 30 minutes!!! See any storms? No? okay. No tornadoes are going to strike in your area within at least 30 minutes if you don't see any obvious storms on the horizon or close by. But if the sky gets cloudy, or it's after sunset, then, well, on to

Step 2: Either have a NOAA weather radio (highly recommended!), put your TV on to a LOCAL TV station, or listen to a radio station that can be trusted for weather info. Know your county and all adjacent counties, because warnings are issued by county. You need to know, for example, that if a warning is issued for, say, Washington county, and Washington county is the county to the west, and the storm is moving east, that your county will likely receive the next warning. Forget The Weather Channel. They are wholly unreliable for reporting severe weather on a local basis. Especially if you have satellite TV with no crawler warnings.

Step 3: If severe weather threatens your area, heed the advice that comes with the warning. Immediately. Storms are very dynamic beasts, they constantly evolve, and THAT is why warnings are often issued only at the last minute.

Do not try to estimate the danger based upon wind direction, temperatures, sounds, or any of that crap.

Tornadoes can move in any direction, but they most often move NE, E, or SE. They can and do occur during torrential rainfall. It is less common, but not rare at all. The winds can be blowing not at all, lightly, strongly, or violently before a tornado. The winds can be blowing from any direction. It makes little difference, but most common is strong wind from the S or SE just prior to a tornado strike. The temperature can be anywhere from about 50 degrees to about 95 degrees before a tornado. It is unlikely that a tornado will occur if the dewpoint is less than 60 degrees F.

One thing that is also VERY likely before a tornado is that there will be frequent and very close and loud lightning and thunder. Hail is also a warning sign, especially large hail, but as many tornadoes strike after no hail as with hail.

It is HIGHLY unlikely that you will see mammatus clouds. They are more prevalent after a storm begins to weaken, and they are primarily on the back side of the storm, where you probably wouldn't see tham until after the storm passes, anyway.

Here is also a source for warnings that gets auto-updated every 2 minutes:

http://kamala.cod.edu/svr/

You are likely to receive a warning from there even faster than you would get it from a local TV station.

There are usually ominous clouds prior to a tornado, yes, but again, there are even exceptions to that. Tornadoes sometimes occur from clouds that do not look very ominous.

Anyone who has a keen interest in tornadoes and storms, check out our forum:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum...

You won't be able to post unless you become a member, which requires a degree of meteorological knowledge, but you're welcome to read the posts!

Here is the original thread:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aj_yf_xjPuPFDndlVnT1PuXsy6IX?qid=20060802110038AAGw16U

Answer 2

I have personally seen and been through 8 tornadoes. All of them, without exception exhibited the following criteria: The sky turned a shade of green that I have never seen other than during tornadoes. It became eerily quiet just before touchdown - not a leaf was moving. The humidity those days was outrageously high. People get scared with a black sky, but green is what I look for. Also, just before the tornado hit, the wind would suddenly pick up immensely and there would be heavy rain or hail. I find storms fascinating - actually, weather in general.

Answer 3

The temperature will drop drastically. Hail usually precedes the tornado along with the temperature change. It will also be very calm prior to the tornado, hence the term the calm before the storm. When it forms the funnel cloud and begins to head toward something it will then sound like a freight train and the wind will blow fiercely. That is definitely time to get below.
Enjoy your report.

Answer 4

Very dark and a possibly greenish sky, some large hail and very heavy rain as the tornado producing storm enters your area, the sirens will go off, a funnel cloud will form, dust and debris will be tossed up into the air.

Answer 5

The clouds get all dark, even a greenish color may appear in the sky. It looks like the sky is about to open. You start to see maybe waterspouts, or the wind starts to calm down/ pick up.

Answer 6

my dog runs for cover before the alarms even sounded, so i would keep an eye on your pets' activities during storms. mind you she never hides or anything during electrical/thunder storms but she hid from the tornado.

Answer 7

a good way to know is to listen to NWS radio during a storm. They will alert you on any kind of rotation in the clouds

Answer 8

The clouds in the sky turn army-green.

Answer 9

Honey i think you should do your own research. How will you ever learn?
I'll be nice and give you one. Its when the sirens sound.

Answer 10

IF THE SKY STARTS TO TURN GREEN