Could a tornado be strong enough to turn into a hurricane??

Question

If the super-cell(usually produces tornados) gets big enough and extracts moisture from the waters of the(lets just say)the Atlantic Ocean, could it turn into a tropical feature??

Did anyone read the part where i said...when a tornado hits the water can it abnd stays over water for a few days, can it turn into a tropical feature??

Answer 1

No, a tornado could not be strong enough to turn into a hurricane.

One big difference between supercells & their associated tornadoes and tropical cyclones (hurricanes) is how vertical wind shear affects them. [1]

Vertical wind shear (how the wind speed & direction changes with height) is required to develop supercells. A good amount of vertical wind shear helps a thunderstorm updraft to achieve a tilt (so the updraft is not squelched by the downdraft) and helps it to develop rotation. [2]

Vertical wind shear is prohibitive to tropical cyclone development and will weaken an already-formed cyclone (see condition #6 in link [3]).

You may also want to read the hurricane vs tornado FAQ [4].

Answer 2

No - not exactly, but maybe yes in a sense. The processes creating the 2 are very different. Hurricanes require convection on a much larger scale, and the dynamics are of much larger scale generally.

Hurricane Wilma of 2005 was interesting though. As mentioned here:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL252005_Wilma.pdf

the eye contracted to a diameter of 2 miles when it rapidly strengthened to that of the lowest pressure ever in the Atlantic basin October 19. I am not sure it really contracted so much as there was a poorly-defined eye before the small, intense vortex at its center formed - the process for which could've indeed been quite similar to formation of a tornado.

Typically in a strong hurricane, the winds increase from the outside rather gradually across the eyewall to a maximum on its inside edge, then decrease more rapidly toward the center of the eye (which is typically 10-25 miles diameter). At the center of this storm was briefly a very small and intense vortex which did resemble a tornado - I can recall the rapid oscillations of the storm center in the satellite loops at the time. They really cannot even be called wobbles, because they were much more rapid than the wobbles which are common with the eye of a hurricane. Winds decreased below hurricane & tropical storm strength not far outside of it - can't recall the exact distances, but I was amazed at how close - seemed basically like the same weak hurricane with a very strong center at that point. Not long afterward, the center weakened as the vortex spread over a much larger (and typical) distance - leaving a strong hurricane of typical structure. Who knows - maybe this occurred in other storms, but there were no planes going thru them at the time.

So I suppose it can be said that the weak hurricane became the tornado and then the tornado became the strong hurricane - though it really was not a tornado in the true sense of the word.

Answer 3

No the energy of a hurricane is several degree of magnitude more than a tornado. They are totally different physical phenomenon. A hurricane is a tropical depression that is formed in the ocean. A tornado usually form in the middle of a continent.

Answer 4

No. Supercell thunderstorms that often produce tornadoes are virtually non-existant in means of lifespan, ie a few hours. Tropical waves that turn into hurricanes are fed for days (sometimes weeks) by the warmest waters on the planet.

Answer 5

no it cant because they only last for the most of about 2 hours a single tornado that is
it could not stay over water and strengthen into a hurrican or tropical storm

Answer 6

Not really. Tornadoes form from wall clouds, Hurricanes form from the oceans.

Answer 7

Hurricanes occur over water. Tornados can come from hurricanes once they hit land but tornados can't become hurricanes.

Answer 8

I guess it could be possible. The thing is, that most tornados don't happen in areas where there are mass amounts of water. You always hear of tornados in the mid west, where it's flat and barren - the tornado wouldn't be able to pull moisture from any major body of water.

Answer 9

no a hurricane is a storm that requires warm water to act whereas a tornado is over dry land

Answer 10

Sure happens all the time, But in Africa when they cross the Atlantic