Tornadoes

• made visible with the funnel cloud
• on average:
  • they last for about 10 minutes
  • create a damage path about 4 miles long
• some tornadoes touch down briefly
• a few tornadoes have been observed to last for hours, creating a damage path 100's of km long
• most of the time, their occurrence is isolated, but sometimes, tornado outbreaks occur
• sometimes comprised of suction vortices
• Tornado distribution -->>
• how strong can tornadic winds get????

QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT:

If you are confronted in an open field by a large tornado and there is no way that you could outrun it, probably the only thing that you could do would be to run and lie down in a depression. If given the choice, would you run toward your right or left as the tornado approaches? Explain your reasoning.

Tornadoes apparently form in a region of a strong updraft, yet they descend from the based of a cloud. Why?