How are torndaoes formed?

Question

I know the basics, a tornado is a violent windstorm that comes from a mesocyclone.. right??? BUT HOW?

Answer 1

Meteorologists have written probably millions of pages over the years to describe how tornadoes form and sustain, so an easy answer is impossible to fit into this space here. Here's a synopsis for you, though:

Instability exists when a low level warm moist air layer is overrun by very cold mid and upper level layers of air. If the low level air is somehow induced to rise through a capping layer (of even warmer air) at about 5000 feet, a column of that low level air will shoot upwards at speeds sometimes greater than 100 mph. This is the heart of a thunderstorm, and if it rotates (due to direction shear), you have a mesocyclone (although, technically, that's just a feature of a radar signature...).

If this rotating updraft creates enough of a vaccuum near the ground, and low level winds rush into the area under the meso just right, a tornado is spawned.

Answer 2

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air which is in contact with both a cumulonimbus (or, in rare cases, cumulus) cloud base and the surface of the earth. Tornadoes can come in many shapes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, with the narrow end touching the earth. Often, a cloud of debris encircles the lower portion of the funnel.

Most have winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) or less, are approximately 250 feet (75 meters) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers) before dissipating. However, some tornadoes can have winds of more than 300 mph (480 km/h), be more than a mile (1.6 km) across, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 kilometers).[1][2][3]

They have been observed on every continent except Antarctica; a significant percentage of the world's tornadoes occur in the United States.[4] This is mostly due to the unique geography of the country, which allows the conditions which breed strong, long-lived storms to occur many times a year. Other areas which commonly experience tornadoes include Australia, south-central Canada, northwestern Europe, south-central an

Life cycle
Most tornadoes follow a recognizable life cycle.[8] The cycle begins when a strong thunderstorm develops a rotating mesocyclone a few miles up in the atmosphere, becoming a supercell. As rainfall in the storm increases, it drags with it an area of quickly descending air known as the rear flank downdraft (RFD). This downdraft accelerates as it approaches the ground, and drags the rotating mesocyclone towards the ground with it.

As the mesocyclone approaches the ground, a visible condensation funnel appears to descend from the base of the storm, often from a rotating wall cloud. As the funnel descends, the RFD also reaches the ground, creating a gust front that can cause damage a good distance from the tornado. Usually, the funnel cloud begins causing damage on the ground (becoming a tornado) within minutes of the RFD reaching the ground.

Initially, the tornado has a good source of warm, moist inflow to power it, so it grows until it reaches the mature stage. During its mature stage, which can last anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour, a tornado often causes the most damage, and can in rare instances be more than one mile across. Meanwhile, the RFD, now an area of cool surface winds, begins to wrap around the tornado, cutting off the inflow of warm air which feeds the tornado.

As the RFD completely wraps around and chokes off the tornado's air supply, the tornado begins to weaken, becoming thin and rope-like. This is the dissipating stage, and the tornado often fizzles within minutes. During the dissipating stage, the shape of the tornado becomes highly influenced by the direction of surface winds, and can be blown into fantastic patterns.

As the tornado enters the dissipating stage, its associated mesocyclone often weakens as well, as the rear flank downdraft cuts off the inflow powering it. In particularly intense supercells, tornadoes can develop cyclically. As the first mesocyclone and associated tornado dissipate, the storm's inflow is concentrated into a new area closer to the center of the storm. If a new mesocyclone develops, the cycle may start again, producing a new tornado. Occasionally, the old, or occluded mesocyclone, and the new mesocyclone produce a tornado at the same time.

Though this is a widely-accepted theory for how most tornadoes form, live, and die, it does not explain the formation of smaller tornadoes, such as landspouts, long-lived tornadoes, or tornadoes with multiple vortices. These each have different mechanisms which influence their development—however, most tornadoes follow a pattern similar to this one.[12]

You could get more information from the link below...

Answer 3

Causes:
Formed by an instability in the atmosphere.
Usually form during thunderstorms.
A downward flow of cold air from clouds meets a rising flow of warm air from the ground.
When the conditions are just right, a tornado will start.
Effects:
Houses are destroyed
People and animals can be killed
Crops are destroyed
Disease can spread
Water gets contaminated
Communities are demolished and must be rebuilt

Answer 4

If i remember correctly, the hot air is trapped under the cold and as we all know hot air rises so as it goes up with such force it creates a swirling action thus causing a tornado........

Answer 5

It's basically a vortex caused by mixing pressures and temperatures. Whatever parameters feed the continuance of the vortex are what causes it to increase in size.

Answer 6

Hot and Cold air coliding into each other causing a spiral and thats basically how they are formed.

Answer 7

By someone letting a really big fart and all the wind from it.

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado