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Twisters Untangled: Understanding Tornadoes

Twisters Untangled: Understanding Tornadoes

A step-by-step guide to the development of tornadoes and a historic look at Tornado Alley.
Source: NPR Topics: Science

Image from Wikimedia public domain.

Tornadoes Understanding Untangled Twisters

Tornadoes are not that hard to understand. Here in the USA the so called area called tornado alley is along the great plains. The main formation of tornadoes comes about when the supper cooled air from the rocky mountains comes down onto the plains and mixes with the tropical moist air coming up from the gulf of mexico. These two masses of air mix together causing at times a swirling mass of warm moist air rising above the cooler air thus you get the formation of super cell thunderstorms. The main air flow of the super cell or any large thunderstorm becomes self supporting and these air currents spin tighter and form a wall cloud. The wall cloud is usually at the back edge of a super cell and hangs lower. IT is where the air forces spin the hardest and most times create a tornado.

I am sure there is more but that is all I can remember off the top of my head.

Twisters Untangled: Understanding Tornadoes UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

The width of a tornado can range from less than ten yards to more than a mile.

Image from Wikimedia public domain.