Tornadoes
A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes can produce massive destruction with wind speeds of 250 miles per hour or more. The typical tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but they have been known to move in any direction. The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 miles per hour but it may vary from stationary to 70 miles per hour. Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, they are found most frequently in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries.
All thunderstorms are characterized by updrafts, rising air currents which supply the warm, humid air that fuels thunderstorms; sometimes, however, the column of rising air becomes a vortex—a funnel cloud, or if it reaches the ground, a tornado. A tornado is often located at the......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1027
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |