Tornadoes!?

Question

I have a few questions, even if you don't answer all of them, some would be great!! Thanks!!

1. Can twisters just end suddenly, like have the weather be really stormy and windy, then end up having a real nice, sunny day?

2. Can an intense twister form within fifteen minutes?

3. In one area, anywhere, can tornadoes form one after another (for many tornadoes)?

4. Have measurements ever been taken from inside the tunnel of a tornado?

5. What is the warning time before a tornado hits nowadays?

6. Can some one tell the way the tornado is going to go by the way it meets the sky/atmosphere?

7. What are some weather conditions associated with tornadoes (hail, winds, lightning? etc.)?

8. Can a tornado split in two?

9. In the movie Twister, two people ride in this truck in the path of a tornado, but they can't see it until the tornado comes over a hill. Is that possible?

10. And I know this is kind of silly, but tornadoes and twisters are the same thing, right? Just want to be sure!

Thanks!! :D

Answer 1

1. Usually it is the other way around, nice sunny day then storm clouds out of no where. But i suppose that could happen if there was a sudden change in pressure.

2. Yes, they form in the storm system itself and can drop anytime. This is why so much damage is caused. They are just unpredictable.

3. Yes, a lineup of tornadoes can happen look up stories of those online im sure you'll find quite a few.

4. Not positive on that one :/

5. Usually anywhere between 15sec-5min. But weather reports can warn people hours before.

6. Sometimes, the downside is, is that since weather is constantly changing there is no SURE way to tell exactly how one will land. Many storm chasers and meteorologists can come pretty close to predicting their paths though.

7.  All of the above, look for basic storm characteristics. Scalloped clouds are another sign...and beginning mesocyclones or wall clouds are another sign.

8. Yes, these are called twins or sometimes sister twisters.

9. If the visibility was down enough im sure it might be.

10. Yeah (:

Answer 2

1. I have never heard of a tornado ending suddenly, like it does a few times in the film "Twister". Tornadoes go through several stages and the last stage before they dissipate is known as the "rope" stage. Here, the tornado becomes very thin and can stretch out a lot. Tornadoes cannot just disappear suddenly. It usually takes at least a minute for the tornado to end. Also, depending on how fast the storm is moving, it can be very stormy one minute and very sunny and calm the next minute.

2. Considering that most tornadoes do not last for more than 5 minutes (from the formation to the dissipating stage), 15 minutes is enough time for an intense tornado to form. Some of the most intense tornadoes have been known to last for an hour or more, which is a very long time for a tornado.

3. On rare occasions, supercell thunderstorms have been known to form a "family" of tornadoes. It is also not that uncommon for a single large tornado to have a neighboring satellite tornado, maybe even two satellite tornadoes. However, most supercells spawn no more than one tornado.

4. A team of scientists attempted to place an instrument inside the funnel of a twister. It was known as TOTO (Totable Tornado Observatory. In the 1980s, meteorologists attempted to place this inside a tornado but were ultimately unsuccessful since the instrument had fallen several times due to it's high center of gravity. Also, just last year a team of scientists led by Dr. Wurman of the Center for Severe Weather Research were successful in driving right into a tornado. The vehicle, known as TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) had numerous instruments mounted on it.

5. The average lead time time before a tornado hits is about 11 minutes today. This has greatly improved over the last few decades. Numerous meteorologists are currently working toward improving that number.

6. This is not the best way to tell which way a tornado is going but I would assume (don't take my word for it) that sometimes the top of the tornado, where it meets the cloud, would be pointing to the direction of movement relative to the bottom of the tornado. This would only be the case if the parent thunderstorm was moving faster than the tornado base. This is not always the case however.

7. Some weather condition associated with tornadoes are large hail, heavy rainfall and lightning. Some tornadoes form in the part of the parent thunderstorm where there is absolutely no precipitation falling. This can give people a false sense of comfort because they may think that the storm is over.

8. That is a good question, come back to me on that one.

9. This would depend on the size of the hill and the size of the tornado. Wedge tornadoes are tornadoes that are wider than they are tall. Such tornadoes can be difficult or impossible to see if a hill was obstructing one's view. So yes, it is possible to not see a tornado until it comes over a hill.

10. Twister is just another way of saying tornado, they both mean the same thing.

I hope this helped.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/toto... (TOTO project)

http://www.cswr.org/ (Center for Severe Weather Research)

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/tornado/... (Tornado Info)

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorm... (Tornado Info)