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Tornadoes Facts

Tornadoes Facts
Tornadoes, or twisters as some people call them, are violent columns of air that rotate at high speeds, coming into contact with both a cumulonimbus cloud and the earth's surface. The majority of tornadoes are approximately 250 feet wide, do not reach speeds of more than 110 miles per hour, and they do not travel more than a few miles before ending. The most dangerous tornadoes, which are not as common, can reach speeds of 300+ miles per hour. These tornadoes can be more than two miles wide and stay on the ground for upwards of 100km. Tornadoes vary, and aside from the single funnel, they can be land-spouts, water-spouts, multiple vortexes, and have been seen everywhere in the world except Antarctica.
Interesting Tornadoes Facts:
The United States is home to the most violent tornadoes in the world. There are approximately 800 to 1000 reported every year.
In every season, every state in the United States has had tornadoes reported.
Tornado alley in the United States is made up of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Out of every four tornadoes in the world, three of them happen in the United States.
Most tornadoes only last a few minutes.
There is less than 0.1% chance that a tornado will be an F5 on the F-scale, which is the highest rating. F0 is the weakest.
The most common time for tornadoes to occur is between 3pm and 9pm.
A tornado that forms over the water is called a water-spout.
Chickens were actually plucked from the wind during a 1928 tornado in Kansas.
A 1931 Mississippi tornado was so strong that it lifted a train weighing 83 tons and it landed 80 feet away from the track.
It is common for a tornado to take on the color of the ground it passes over.
Not all tornadoes make a lot of noise. It depends on the type of objects that get swept into its funnel and the type of land it passes over.
Not everyone believes that crop circles are made by aliens. Some believe they are the result of small wind funnels.
The type of thunderstorm that results in tornadoes is called a super-cell.
Tornadoes can hit one house and miss the next completely because of its ability to hop.
A tornado that hit Oklahoma took a motel sign and it was later found in Arkansas.
The path of one tornado called the Tri-State Tornado traveled more than 219 miles, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. This tornado was so deadly that it killed 695 people before it finally ended. It was the worst in recorded U.S. history.
The deadliest recorded tornado in the world happened in 1989, killing approximately 1300 people in Bangladesh.
If a tornado hits your neighborhood, the safest place to be is underground.
Tornadoes in the northern hemisphere usually rotate counter-clockwise while tornadoes in the southern hemisphere usually rotate clockwise.
There are other types of wind circulations that do not get as strong or dangerous as tornadoes. These include gustnadoes, dust devils, steam devils and fire wheels.


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