Tornadoes: Watch Out!

Dark clouds loom overhead. Sheets of pounding rain pour down from them. Lightning sparks across the sky, and the roar of thunder is heard for miles. Hail pellets bounce off of cars and sidewalks. A severe thunderstorm like this is common in many parts of the country. Heavy rain, hail, and lighting from a thunderstorm can cause serious damage, but a thunderstorm can also lead to something much more menacing: a tornado.

Tornadoes usually form from large thunderstorms. When the winds beneath a storm are unstable, they blow at different speeds. These unstable winds underneath the thunderstorm can begin to rotate. If that rotating air gets pushed up into the storm, it can gain strength and speed. A dark cone of air may swirl down from the storm. This is called a funnel cloud. If the funnel touches the ground, it becomes a tornado.

Tornadoes can form very quickly. They create the strongest winds on the planet, with speeds that can top 200 miles per hour. In 1967, a powerful tornado struck Oak Lawn, Illinois. Patti Ernst lived through that tornado as a child. “Our garage blew away. Our car was crunched,” she remembered in an interview with Chicago television station, WGN. Still, she knew it could have been much worse. A powerful twister can rip houses from their concrete foundations and flatten whole neighborhoods. “My family was so lucky,” Ernst said.

The Oak Lawn tornado destroyed over 100 homes, and it killed dozens of people. But survivors of 2011’s Joplin, Missouri tornado know that tornadoes can be much worse. Rance Junge described the tornado to ABC News. “You couldn’t see a funnel. It was just so massive,” he told reporters. The immense tornado measured almost a mile wide. It was a multiple-vortex tornado, with more than one funnel cloud reaching ground. That storm wrecked Joplin and left over 100 people dead.  

Joshua Wurman is an atmospheric scientist who studies tornadoes. “For people to be safe from tornadoes, several things must happen,” Wurman explained in an interview with CNN. According to Wurman, the key to saving lives is to understand how tornadoes start. He says it is also important to learn which thunderstorms will spawn tornadoes and which ones will not. But predicting tornadoes is still tricky. Wurman is a leading tornado expert. He has spent decades studying the storms and even chasing them.

It is also important to know what to do when a tornado touches the ground. Tornadoes can uproot trees, lift cars, and hurl smaller objects with fatal force. If a tornado hits, it is important to stay away from falling and flying debris. Some buildings and houses are equipped with safe rooms that are designed to withstand tornadoes. This is the safest place to be during a tornado. If a designated tornado shelter is not available, it is best to shelter in a room inside a sturdy building. Staying away from windows is a must. Airborne debris can smash through them and flying, jagged glass shards can be deadly. Ground floors are safer than being upstairs, and basements provide even better protection. 

In the United States, most tornadoes strike in “Tornado Alley.” This area stretches from Texas north to the Dakotas. People who live in this area know to prepare for the dangers of tornadoes. They know to look for warning signs, like a strange quietness just after a thunderstorm, changes in the sky’s color, or the ominous sight of a funnel cloud. Many people have tornado shelters built on their properties or under their homes. They know the quickest routes to the safest areas in their houses, schools, and workplaces. Scientists will continue to get better at predicting tornadoes, but for now, being prepared for a tornado is the best way to stay safe.