Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm

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Vettese, Dayna. "Tornadoes in Canada: Everything you n The sky was a vicious shade of greenish grey, the wind was unbelievably loud, and my mother and the other American woman did what one does when a tornado is possibly about to uproot your home. That is, they sought shelter in the basement of the house. The Aussie and the Kiwi on the other hand, ran to the front porch to watch this incredible force of nature, all while their loves screamed at them to seek shelter. The formation of an eye is almost always an indicator of increasing tropical cyclone organisation and strength. Because of this, forecasters watch developing storms closely for signs of eye formation. [ citation needed] In the mid-1970s, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) increased its efforts to train storm spotters so they could spot key features of storms that indicate severe hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes, as well as storm damage and flash flooding. The program was called Skywarn, and the spotters were local sheriff's deputies, state troopers, firefighters, ambulance drivers, amateur radio operators, civil defense (now emergency management) spotters, storm chasers, and ordinary citizens. When severe weather is anticipated, local weather service offices request these spotters to look out for severe weather and report any tornadoes immediately, so that the office can warn of the hazard. [ citation needed] Gustnado". Glossary of Meteorology. American Meteorological Society. June 2000 . Retrieved 2006-09-20.

Most tornadoes take on the appearance of a narrow funnel, a few hundred meters (yards) across, with a small cloud of debris near the ground. Tornadoes may be obscured completely by rain or dust. These tornadoes are especially dangerous, as even experienced meteorologists might not see them. [26] a b Marshall, Tim (2008-11-09). "The Tornado Project's Terrific, Timeless and Sometimes Trivial Truths about Those Terrifying Twirling Twisters!". The Tornado Project. Archived from the original on 2008-10-16 . Retrieved 2008-11-09. a b Wurman, Joshua (2008-08-29). "Doppler on Wheels". Center for Severe Weather Research. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05 . Retrieved 2009-12-13. Beven, John L. (2005-10-27). "Tropical Storm Beta Discussion Number 3". Hurricane Beta Advisory Archive (Report). National Hurricane Center. Archived from the original on 2018-10-07 . Retrieved 2013-05-07.The winds of the tornado vortex and of constituent turbulent eddies, as well as airflow interaction with the surface and debris, contribute to the sounds. Funnel clouds also produce sounds. Funnel clouds and small tornadoes are reported as whistling, whining, humming, or the buzzing of innumerable bees or electricity, or more or less harmonic, whereas many tornadoes are reported as a continuous, deep rumbling, or an irregular sound of "noise". [44]

Tornadoes are most common in spring and least common in winter, but tornadoes can occur any time of year that favorable conditions occur. [24] Spring and fall experience peaks of activity as those are the seasons when stronger winds, wind shear, and atmospheric instability are present. [87] Tornadoes are focused in the right front quadrant of landfalling tropical cyclones, which tend to occur in the late summer and autumn. Tornadoes can also be spawned as a result of eyewall mesovortices, which persist until landfall. [88] The reason for the beautiful weather attributed to the eye is the simple fact that while the air is rising to the top anywhere else in the storm, in the eye it is actually sinking, bringing warm air. This also explains why no rain is falling from the eye and why so many eyewitness accounts have actually reported seeing beautiful blue skies. Edwards, Roger; Ladue, James G.; Ferree, John T.; Scharfenberg, Kevin; Maier, Chris; Coulbourne, William L. (2013). "Tornado Intensity Estimation: Past, Present, and Future". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 94 (5): 641–653. Bibcode: 2013BAMS...94..641E. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00006.1. S2CID 7842905. Main article: Funnel cloud This tornado has no funnel cloud; however, the rotating dust cloud indicates that strong winds are occurring at the surface, and thus it is a true tornado. a b Glossary of Meteorology (2020). Tornado (2ed.). American Meteorological Society . Retrieved 2021-03-06.

What is a gustnado?

This clear space is surrounded by a ring of heavy rain and debris that is often moving outward, away from the tornado’s center. That’s because the winds are spinning incredibly fast and creating centrifugal force that pulls these objects away from the middle of the storm. Sometimes areas of heavy rain that are a little farther removed from the tornado spiral inward toward the area of rotation, like the spiral bands that extend outward from the eye of a hurricane.

Schubert, Wayne H.; etal. (1999). "Polygonal Eyewalls, Asymmetric Eye Contraction, and Potential Vorticity Mixing in Hurricanes". Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. 59 (9): 1197–1223. Bibcode: 1999JAtS...56.1197S. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.454.871. doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(1999)056<1197:PEAECA>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 16156527. Many aspects of this process remain a mystery. Scientists do not know why a ring of convection forms around the center of circulation instead of on top of it, or why the upper-level anticyclone ejects only a portion of the excess air above the storm. Many theories exist as to the exact process by which the eye forms: all that is known for sure is that the eye is necessary for tropical cyclones to achieve high wind speeds. [12]About Waterspouts". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2007-01-04 . Retrieved 2009-12-13. Landsea, Chris; Goldenberg, Stan (2012-06-01). "A: Basic definitions". In Dorst, Neal (ed.). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). 4.5. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. pp. A9: What is a "CDO"?. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15.

Though tornadoes can strike in an instant, there are precautions and preventative measures that can be taken to increase the chances of survival. Authorities such as the Storm Prediction Center in the United States advise having a pre-determined plan should a tornado warning be issued. When a warning is issued, going to a basement or an interior first-floor room of a sturdy building greatly increases chances of survival. [120] In tornado-prone areas, many buildings have underground storm cellars, which have saved thousands of lives. [121]Tornadoes". Prairie Storm Prediction Centre. Environment Canada. 2007-10-07. Archived from the original on 2001-03-09 . Retrieved 2009-12-13. The Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30 . Retrieved 2013-05-08. Tropical Cyclone Safety". JetStream – Online School for Weather. National Weather Service. 2010-01-05. Archived from the original on 2017-12-11 . Retrieved 2006-08-06.