How Do Tornadoes Form?
The average tornado has a short lifespan—but large potential for destruction.
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Transcript
The average tornado has a lifespan of just a few minutes, but that's more than enough time for one of the world's most-destructive weather events to form.
The most extreme tornadoes can last for hours, span miles in diameter, and whip up wind speeds over 300 miles per hour. To prepare for these dangerous weather events, meteorologists have spent decades researching how tornadoes come to be.
Tornadoes develop out of what's called a supercell thunderstorm, which is a normal thunderstorm with a persistent rotating updraft at its core. This rotating updraft grows into something called a vortex, a spinning column of air at the center of the storm. As a supercell grows in size, the vortex in the middle will begin to tilt, pulling warm air and moisture upward and pushing cold dry air down toward the ground. The updraft of warm air causes the vortex to swell with water vapor, creating a spiraling funnel cloud.
The cool downdraft begins to battle the funnel cloud's upward spiral, focusing the cloud into a smaller area and increasing its speed. With enough pressure and weight from the battling hot and cool air, the funnel cloud is forced down to the ground, and a tornado is born.
Modern technologies like Doppler radar allow meteorologists to track the moisture and pressure in the air, allowing them to notice the early stages of a tornado forming before the funnel cloud is even visible, and with every second of early warning, more damage can be prevented and more lives saved.
The most extreme tornadoes can last for hours, span miles in diameter, and whip up wind speeds over 300 miles per hour. To prepare for these dangerous weather events, meteorologists have spent decades researching how tornadoes come to be.
Tornadoes develop out of what's called a supercell thunderstorm, which is a normal thunderstorm with a persistent rotating updraft at its core. This rotating updraft grows into something called a vortex, a spinning column of air at the center of the storm. As a supercell grows in size, the vortex in the middle will begin to tilt, pulling warm air and moisture upward and pushing cold dry air down toward the ground. The updraft of warm air causes the vortex to swell with water vapor, creating a spiraling funnel cloud.
The cool downdraft begins to battle the funnel cloud's upward spiral, focusing the cloud into a smaller area and increasing its speed. With enough pressure and weight from the battling hot and cool air, the funnel cloud is forced down to the ground, and a tornado is born.
Modern technologies like Doppler radar allow meteorologists to track the moisture and pressure in the air, allowing them to notice the early stages of a tornado forming before the funnel cloud is even visible, and with every second of early warning, more damage can be prevented and more lives saved.
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