Wind and tornados?

Question

Hey guys,

I would like to know what causes wind and tornados....and what does it look like just before a tornado begin to form....and how does it look like while a tornado is being formed....thanks

Answer 1

Local winds are caused by large diferences in air pressure over a small portion. So if you look on a weather map you see the H and L which means high and low pressure and surrounding the H & L are lines called isobarsand when these lines are close together creates wind for the area that these lines are close together. The closer the isobars are the faster the winds are. Also all winds flow from High pressure to Low pressure . Some types of wind are Sea breezes and Land Breezes. Sea Breezes are caused by cooler water adjacent to warm land during the day because land warms faster than water due to specific heat. Liquid has a higher specific heat than solids and gases so it takes liquid to cool at a slower rate than land becuase (I hope you already know it but just in case) land is a solid. Land breezes are caused by the same thing that causes Sea Breezes but Land Breezes are at night and by water cooling at a slower rate than land. On-the-other-hand there are high altitude winds called Planetary Winds.These are cause by earth's rotation and gravity and the direction these winds travel are determined betwwen different latitudes. Between 30N and 60N the Planetary Winds travel Northeast so it makes all weather systems like Cold fronts and Warm Fronts travel to the northeast and in between 0 and 30N so all weather in that reigon travels to the southwest because that's the direction the travel. The Planetary Winds change every 30 degrees of latitude.
Tornadoes are caused by two opposing Air Masses going toward eachother. Such as a Warm Airmass and a Cool Airmass or a Dry Airmass and a Moist Airmass or a Cool Airmass and a Dry Airmass and so on. This is why the majority of the tornadoes in the United States happen in tornado alley which is The Great Plains reigon. (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.) Some tornadoes are not caused by that beacuse tornadoes are also common in the Eastern U.S. by supercell thunderstorms. A supercell thunderstorm is a thunderstorm that is long-lived and traveled long distances which causes cloud rotation and the clouds spin round in a counter-clockwise movement (except it rotates clockwise in the Sothern Hemisphere) and the rotating part of the cloud just gradually comes to the ground as a funnel cloud and once it touches the ground it's considered a tornado. During these thunderstorms are not only tornadoes but heavy rain, destructive winds caused by the tornadoes not always over hurricane force (74 m.p.h./119 k/h), large hail and deadly cloud to ground lightning. Supercell thunderstorms are the same thunderstorms that produce waterspouts (tornadoes over water). The winds of tornadoes are measured on the Enhanced Fajita Scale:
EF0 Wind speed 65–85 mph 105–137 km/h
Potential damage
EF0 damage exampleLight damage.
Peels surface off some roofs; some damage to gutters or siding; branches broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

Enhanced Fujita Scale:

Category EF1 Wind speed 86–110 mph 138–178 km/h
Potential damage
EF1 damage exampleModerate damage.
Roofs severely stripped; mobile homes overturned or badly damaged; loss of exterior doors; windows and other glass broken.

Category EF2 Wind speed 111–135 mph 179–218 km/h
Potential damage
EF2 damage exampleConsiderable damage.
Roofs torn off well-constructed houses; foundations of frame homes shifted; mobile homes completely destroyed; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated; cars lifted off ground.

Category EF3 Wind speed 136–165 mph 219–266 km/h
Potential damage
EF3 damage exampleSevere damage.
Entire stories of well-constructed houses destroyed; severe damage to large buildings such as shopping malls; trains overturned; trees debarked; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown; structures with weak foundations blown away some distance.

Category EF4 Wind speed 166–200 mph 267–322 km/h
Potential damage
EF4 damage exampleDevastating damage.
Well-constructed houses and whole frame houses completely leveled; cars thrown and small missiles generated.

Category EF5 Wind speed >200 mph >322 km/h
Potential damage
EF5 damage exampleIncredible damage.
Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 m (109 yd); high-rise buildings have significant structural deformation; incredible phenomena will occur. So far only one EF5 tornado has been recorded since the Enhanced Fujita Scale was introduced on February 1, 2007.

Old Fujita Scale:

Wind speed Less than 73 mph Less than 116 km/h Relative frequency 38.9%
Potential damage
F0 damage exampleLight damage. Some damage to chimneys; branches broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over; sign boards damaged.
Category F1 Wind speed 73–112 mph 116–180 km/h Relative frequency 35.6%
Potential damage
F1 damage exampleModerate damage. The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.
Category F2 Wind speed 113–157 mph 181–250 km/h Relative frequency 19.4%
Potential damage
F2 damage exampleConsiderable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars overturned; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated.
Category F3 Wind speed 158–206 mph 251–330 km/h Relative frequency 4.9%
Potential damage
F3 damage exampleSevere damage. Roofs and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forest uprooted; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown.
Category F4 Wind speed 207–260 mph 331–415 km/h Relative frequency 1.1%
Potential damage
F4 damage exampleDevastating damage. Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown away some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.
Category F5 Wind speed 261–318 mph 416–510 km/h Relative frequency Less than 0.1%
Potential damage
F5 damage exampleIncredible damage. Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100m (109 yd); trees debarked; steel reinforced concrete structures badly damaged; incredible phenomena will occur.


Before tornadoes form there is a dark gray sky and when a tornado forms the clouds start to rotate and a funnel descends from the sky and forms a tornado. I know a good website that will show you images of tornadoes and them forming. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/torscans.htm

Answer 2

Like the first person said wind comes from the sun and the jet stream that is in the area, tornadoes are formed from warm air and cold air fronts merging , which causes a rotation in the atmosphere that downplays on to the flat surface. Some say they seen a grey-green with a little pink in the sky others say they hear a train when there is none in sight.

Answer 3

If you are looking for the tornado you will most likely see a rotating wall cloud from which a funnel should or might become visible.

Wall Cloud:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RLrJADfkd1I
http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/~hail/cool/tornados/images/Wall-Cloud7-21-2000.jpg

A clear slot in the wall cloud is also indicative of an impending funnel cloud or tornado.

Clear Slot (From Rear Flank Downdraft (RFD)):
http://www.stormeffects.com/images/52804-SumnerCoWedge.jpg

The type of precipitation you will see before the tornado depends on the type of storm. The most likely precipitation will be either large hail or no precipitation at all. Since the updraft creates hail and is also located right above the tornado, hail (especially large (i.e. golf ball size or larger)) is indicative of a possible tornado. The updraft might also prevent any of the precipitation from falling at all. With High Precipitation (HP) supercells, there might be heavy rain or highly concentrated hail before a tornado. Tornadoes in these situations can be rain wrapped and therefore harder to spot. A green tinted sky can be related with heavy rain.

In the moments before disaster, you will hear a loud and disturbing roar, you will experience very high winds, you might see debris flying and falling, and you might experience a pressure drop of possibly 60 or more millibars.

If you see the tornado coming towards you, don't be fooled by its size. A very large tornado could be an EF1, while a smaller tornado might be an EF5. Generally, a thin, rope like tornado will indicate the tornadoes dissipation or the presence of weak winds. If the tornado has a wedge appearance, it will probably have some stronger winds. Large flying debris will obviously be present in the stronger tornadoes. But, lack of flying debris doesn't necessarily mean the tornado isn't strong, it just might not have any to pick up.

Non-supercellular tornadoes often go unwarned unless it is reported by someone. These are called landspouts and are generally weak and short-lived. These come from rapidly developing cumulus clouds and look almost hollow, with a small vortex in the middle

Landspout tornado:
http://www.ucar.edu/research/storms/images/landspout250.jpg


You will get a warning at least 10 minutes before a supercellular (most common and most dangerous) tornado. The NWS meteorologists are extremely careful about making sure that all tornadoes are found and warned.

Although rural warnings are not as good as city warnings, they are still there and you should get a NOAA all hazards radio to be notified about them 24/7.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says when there is a tornado warning to:

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

Regular outside wind is usually caused differences in air pressure. Higher pressure blows towards lower pressure. Winds in thunderstorms can be caused by a downburst which is the result of a downdraft hiting the ground and spreading out. Downbursts are categorized into microbursts and macrobursts which are on a scale of 2.5 miles or less and greater than 2.5 miles, respectively.

Answer 4

holy cow those guys can type........
im not sure about the wind but a tornado looks like a finger shaped cloud pointing down at the ground... some form very qiuckly others take a few minutes.
some tornados are very wide and you may not notice them forming on the horizon you would see the cloud but depending on how far away youare it may not look like a tornado

Answer 5

Austin is beautiful! There is occasional hail, usually no bigger than marble size. Severe thunderstorms and flash floods in the Hill Country are a fact of life. Just don't drive into low water crossings when there's water running through them, and you'll be fine. There's a chance of brush fires in the summer because it's dry, but those are infrequent. Tornadoes are infrequent in that area. Don't worry about the weather. It's the best place on Earth!

Answer 6

The sun causes wind. Add the rotation of the planet, and you have winds coming in at odd angles.

Tornadoes are not created by winds. See below for a link to a site that can fully answer your questions about tornadoes.

Answer 7

the rotation of the planet doesn't do much for wind

anyway wind is basically air shifting from high pressure areas to low pressure areas

EDIT: god damn you guys copy paste too much