How fast does a tornado travel

How are tornadoes detected? Today, the development of Doppler radar has made it possible, under certain circumstances, to detect a tornado's winds with a radar see our section on Tornado detection. In some cases, it is also possible to detect the flying debris created by a tornado with radar.

Ordinary citizen volunteers make up what is called the SKYWARN network of storm spotters, who work with their local communities to watch for approaching tornadoes, so those communities can take appropriate action in the event of a tornado. Spotter information is relayed to the National Weather Service. You can be a storm spotter too! Visit www. If your area is not listed, contact your local National Weather Service Office.

How do tornadoes form? See our explanation in the Tornado Types section. Can tornadoes be predicted? Yes, but only to a limited extent. Although the process by which tornadoes form is not completely understood, scientific research has revealed that tornadoes usually form under certain types of atmospheric conditions.

When forecasters see those conditions, they can predict that tornadoes are likely to occur. However, it is not yet possible to predict in advance exactly when and where they will develop, how strong they will be, or precisely what path they will follow.

Once a tornado is formed and has been detected, warnings can be issued based on the path of the storm producing the tornado, but even these cannot be perfectly precise about who will or will not be struck. What are the people called who study tornadoes? People who study tornadoes are just research meteorologists or atmospheric scientists. You may have heard another term—storm chaser—but that really refers to people who chase tornadoes and storms for a hobby.

Research meteorologists have a scientific purpose behind their pursuit of severe weather. They have to come up with questions they think they can answer by taking certain measurements. What are the wind speeds in a tornado? We're not really sure what the highest wind speed might be inside a tornado, since strong and violent tornadoes destroy weather instruments. We really only have measurements of the winds inside weaker tornadoes. How fast do tornadoes move? We don't have detailed statistics about this.

Movement can range from almost stationary to more than 60 mph. A typical tornado travels at around 10—20 miles per hour.

How long is a tornado usually on the ground? Detailed statistics about the time a tornado is on the ground are not available.

This time can range from an instant to several hours. The average is about five minutes. The movie Twister was based upon work NSSL did in the mids using a gallon drum outfitted with various meteorological sensors. NSSL tried for several years to put it in the path of an oncoming tornado, but had minimal success.

It is possible that the technology could exist someday; however there are significant challenges with observations such as these. Read more about Twister science Has every state had a tornado? Yes, although some states have many more tornadoes than others. Are there tornadoes in the Arctic Circle? We are not aware of any tornadoes occurring in the Arctic Circle.

As shown in the Enhanced Fujita scale above, tornadoes with EF5 rating are the strongest and deadliest. While tornadoes occur in many countries in almost all continents except Antarctica , only the US and Canada have verified reports of EF5 tornadoes.

It claimed over 20 lives. It left a mile long and 1. Outside the US, the single deadliest tornado recorded in the world occurred in the Manikganj district of Bangladesh on April 26, According to the World Meteorological Organization, the tornado hit two towns leaving about 80, people homeless and an estimated death toll of 1, people. Roof severely stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, loss of exterior doors, windows, and other glass broken.

Entire stories of well-constructed homes destroyed; severe damage to large buildings such as shopping malls. Strong frame houses leveled off foundation and swept away; high-rise buildings have significant destruction. The mile-wide tornado had a damage path of miles long through the three states. The recorded death toll was at least people. Texas, Oklahoma , and Kansas. This tornado was among the widest and largest tornadoes in US record, with a path reaching up to two miles wide and miles long through Texas and Oklahoma.

It killed people. Keep a watchful eye on the sky, and consider postponing outdoor activities. Know your communities warning system. Communities have different ways of warning residents about tornadoes, with many having sirens intended for only outdoor warning purposes.

Pick a safe room in your home where household members and pets may gather during a tornado. This should be a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor with no windows. Practice periodic tornado drills so that everyone knows what to do if a tornado is approaching. Prepare for high winds by removing diseased and damaged limbs from trees. Move or secure lawn furniture, trash cans, hanging plants or anything else that can be picked up by the wind and become a projectile.

Cover your head with your arms, a mattress, or heavy blanket. If no underground shelter is available, a small, windowless interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building is the safest alternative. Stay away from windows! Get out of large auditoriums or large warehouses. Mobile homes are not safe during tornadoes or severe winds nearly 40 percent of all tornado-related deaths come from residents of mobile homes. Do not seek shelter in a hallway or bathroom of a mobile home.

If you have access to a sturdy shelter or a vehicle, abandon your mobile home immediately. If you are caught outdoors, seek shelter in a basement, shelter, or sturdy building.

If you cannot quickly walk to a shelter: Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. A funnel cloud is a rotating cone-shaped column of air extending downward from the base of a thunderstorm, but not touching the ground.

When it reaches the ground it is called a tornado. What is a supercell thunderstorm? A supercell thunderstorm is a long-lived thunderstorm whose updrafts and downdrafts are in near balance. These storms have the greatest tendency to produce tornadoes that stay on the ground for long periods of time. Supercell thunderstorms can produce violent tornadoes with winds exceeding mph.

What is a mesocyclone? A mesocyclone is a rotating vortex of air within a supercell thunderstorm. Mesocyclones do not always produce tornadoes. What is a microburst? A microburst is a downdraft sinking air in a thunderstorm that is less than 2. Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce. In fact, wind speeds as high as mph are possible in extreme microburst cases. What is a wall cloud?

A wall cloud is an abrupt lowering of a rain-free cumulonimbus base into a low-hanging accessory cloud. A wall cloud is usually situated in the southwest portion of the storm. A rotating wall cloud usually develops before tornadoes or funnel clouds. What is a hook echo? A hook echo describes a pattern in radar reflectivity images that looks like a hook extending from the radar echo, usually in the right-rear part of the storm relative to the motion of the storm.

A hook is often associated with a mesocyclone and indicates favorable conditions for tornado formation. The hook is caused by the rear flank downdraft and is the result of precipitation wrapping around the back side of the updraft. What is a waterspout? A waterspout is just a weak tornado that forms over water.

They are most common along the Gulf Coast. Waterspouts can sometimes move inland, becoming tornadoes causing damage and injuries. What is hail? Hail is created when small water droplets are caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm. These water droplets are lifted higher and higher into the sky until they freeze into ice. Once they become heavy, they will start to fall.

If the smaller hailstones get caught in the updraft again, they will get more water on them and get lifted higher in the sky and get bigger. Once they get lifted again, they freeze and fall. This happens over and over again until the hailstone is too heavy and then falls to the ground.

What is the largest hailstone recorded in the United States? According to the National Weather Service, the largest hailstone is 8 inches in diameter and weights approximately 2 pounds. It fell in Vivian, South Dakota on July 23, What is a gustnado? A gustnado is a short-lived, relatively weak whirlwind that forms along a gust front. Gustnadoes are not tornadoes.

They do not connect with any cloud-base rotation. But because gustnadoes often have a spinning dust cloud at ground level, they are sometimes wrongly reported as tornadoes. Gustnadoes can do minor damage. What is a landspout? A landspout is a very weak tornado that is not associated with a wall cloud or a mesocyclone.