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Tornado Facts for Weather Enthusiasts

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes can have wind speeds over 300 mph and travel over 20 miles, though most are less than 250 feet wide and travel 2-3 miles. The most violent tornadoes are rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which replaced the original Fujita Scale to more accurately measure tornado winds and damage. Over 1,200 tornadoes occur in the US each year, mostly in Tornado Alley, with May historically being the peak month.

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159 views3 pages

Tornado Facts for Weather Enthusiasts

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes can have wind speeds over 300 mph and travel over 20 miles, though most are less than 250 feet wide and travel 2-3 miles. The most violent tornadoes are rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which replaced the original Fujita Scale to more accurately measure tornado winds and damage. Over 1,200 tornadoes occur in the US each year, mostly in Tornado Alley, with May historically being the peak month.

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 A tornado is a violent, rotating column of air that extends from

the base of a thunderstorm to the earth's surface.

 Tornadoes are also known as twisters or cyclones.

 The average tornado will have a wind speed that is less than
110 miles per hour, be about 250 feet wide and only travel
about 2 to 3 miles before dissipating.

 Most tornadoes have a forward speed that is less than 35 miles


per hour.

 The average tornado will only last about 5 minutes on the


ground before dissipating.

 The most violent and extreme tornadoes can reach wind


speeds of 300+ miles per hour, be about 2 miles wide and travel
well over 20 miles before dissipating. The Tri-State Tornado
traveled over 200 miles and lasted for 3+ hours before
dissipating.

 Tornadoes have been observed on every continent with the


exception of Antarctica, with the majority of them occurring in
the United States, especially in a region commonly called
tornado alley.

 Pulse-Doppler radar technology can be used detect tornadoes


before or as they are forming.
 Tornadoes are commonly rated using one of the two tornado
scales, the Fujita scale and the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

 The Fujita scale was developed in 1971 by Tetsuya Fujita and


Allen Pearson. It rates tornadoes based on wind speed and
damage intensity. This tornado scale has 6 ranges, F0 thru F5,
with F5 being the most violent tornadoes.

 The Enhanced Fujita Scale was developed to 2000 and 2004, it


replaced the Fujita scale in 2007 in the United States and 2013
in Canada. It uses the same concept as the original Fujita
scale, but with revised wind speeds and damage indicators.
This tornado scale has 6 ranges, EF0 thru EF5, with EF5 being the
most violent tornadoes.

 The most common appearance for a tornado is a narrow


funnel that is 250 to 300 feet wide with a debris cloud near
ground, however tornadoes can appear in many different sizes
and shapes.

 A waterspout is a tornado that is over a body of water and are


very common in the Florida Keys.

 In the U.S. there is an average of 1,200 tornadoes per year.


About 80% of those tornadoes are either F0/EF0 or F1/EF1, with
less than 1% of them reaching a F4/EF4 or stronger.

 The most infamous tornado in recorded history is the Tri-State


Tornado, which devastated communities in Illinois, Indiana and
Missouri.
 The deadliest tornado in the world's history occurred outside of
the United States in Bangladesh on April 26th, 1989. It is called
the Daultipur-Salturia Tornado and killed over 1,300 people.

 The United States began keeping official records about


tornadoes in 1950. Tornadoes pre-1950 were retroactively
assigned a Fujita scale rating.

 In the United States the month of May has historically the most
active month for tornadoes.

 No direct measurement of wind speeds has ever been made in


the eye of a tornado. This is because no instrument that can
measure wind can survive long enough inside the eye!

 The Super Outbreak in 1974 holds the record for the most
produced F5 tornadoes; seven F5 tornadoes.

 Cordell, KS is proof that tornadoes can strike the same area


twice, debunking a popular tornado myth. Cordell, KS was hit
by tornadoes three years in a row, on the same day; May 20th!

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