what is science behind tornado?
105363
For a tornatdo to form, there must be cold air, warm air, horizontally spiraling air (casued by the coriolis effect), flat land, no water present. There must be an oncoming wind, and cold and warm aiar that is colliding from the northern and souther latitudes. When the masses of air meet, the warm or moist air will rise, since its density is lower than cold or dry air, ando this will create an upward motion. Now, the oncoming wind will come along (it will be spiraling already), and when it makes contact with the area in which the air masses met, the spiraling wind will basically be violently set upright and so a tornado will form. In the northern hemisphere, the winds will go in a counterclockwise direction and in an inward spiral. (This will be partailly due to the Coriolis effect& if you're in the southern hemisphere, the winds will go in a clockise direction). This is the basic science of tornadoes, as i have just learned this year in my Earth Science course.
677757
Often wind damage that's blamed on tornadoes is actually done by winds coming down from a shower or thunderstorm. \nSuch "microburst" winds can reach more than 150 mph. In a tornado, the air is rising as it swirls around the vortex.\n\nIn the U.S. such microbursts are common from the Western Rockies eastward.. why? because that is where the rains are more prevalent
92110
Tornadoes are formed by the clashing of drasticlaly different masses of air known as fronts.  A high pressure front meets with a low pressure front and the difference in their temperatures and pressures creates a strong wind that can form into the funnel clouds known as tornadoes.  This is not to say that all colliding fronts will yield tornadoes, but there are certain elements that can increase the likeliness of a tornado forming.  The swath of the mid-west United States from N. Texas / Oklahoma through Kansas / Nebraska and into Iowa / Missouri is known as "Tornado Alley" because there are more tornados per year in this area than anywhere else in the world.
727972
How would ya'll know? Have you ever been inside one?\n\nNo one knows. It's hard to get instruments to measure the temperature inside a tornado. \nNo one ain't gonna stand there and throw one in. \nIt's to dangerous to get out in front of it and try to lay one down, even if you did most likely it will change direction.\n\nSo No One Knows Yet.
254379
There are probably a few explanations, However a whirlwind probably not a tornado possibly. could you add some detail where are you located?\n\nI beleive there was some tornado activity in your area today.
301253
1) Tornadoes happen in the "Corn Belt" of the United States, so the farms tend to have cows.  Therefore, in a movie about tornadoes, it makes sense to have something that is common in that area of the country.\n2) Hollywood hype.  It tends to make people laugh, even if they don't approve of animal violence.
397369
http://www.bookfinder4u.com/search/Tornado.html\n\n\nyou should find it there..
608754
I love to watch them on tv. I love a thunderstorm near my house. Never been in a tornado or hurricane but they look really scary on tv. I think I would be very scared if I had to go thru a tornado of hurricane. We had a tropical storm one time with winds up to 70 mph. It was awful and lasted all night. I was so worried about the trees crashing on my house. They didn't but the ones in the far back fell. The house shook.
348378
After reading some of the earlier replies to this question, I think I (or someone else with expertise in meteorology) must respond. First, DO NOT WASTE PRECIOUS TIME OPENING THE WINDOWS OF YOUR HOME!!! This is an old-wives tale, passed down by those who do not understand the pressure-loading upon walls during tornadic events. The inside of a tornado is low pressure, much lower than in your home. As a tornado passes near or over the home, pressure builds on the inside of the walls, out. Due to the depth of the low in a tornado, this pressure builds up much earlier than will any damage from in-blown debris will occur. In fact, if the windows are going to blow out, they will do so whether you go around opening them or not. Opening the windows also does not alleviate the pressure build-up along the walls, since unless you own clerestory windows (for which you can't open anyway) and your entire house is glass, the pressure will still build up along the walls regardless. Opening the windows is only a time-waster, and will offer no real protection from anything. At best, from the time those sirens go off, you have 15 minutes to get to cover - you do NOT have time to waste opening windows.\n\nSecond, unless you are a trained storm spotter or experienced chaser (and, since you're asking this question, you aren't) DO NOT try and "film" the tornado. Quite frankly, every civilian who does this not only puts their own lives at risk, but they also selfishly endanger the lives of EMS and civil defense workers. I personally think that every good-timing yahoo who tries to film the tornado, and lacks the knowledge to do so safely, should be mandated to make the calls to the families of the police, fire, and EMS heroes who sacrifice in the line of duty to save the idiots.\n\nAnother misconception that needs to be dispelled before someone suggests it, is DO NOT seek refuge under an overpass if you're caught outside in a tornadic event. Five or six years ago, there was some infamous footage of a t.v. camera crew taking cover under an overpass when they themselves were caught outside while taping the storm (yet another example of point 2 above). They luckily survived, and because they did, many people who watched the tape believed (falsely) that this was a good tactic. If you examine the equation of vorticity, you will note that the wind speed actually increases as the circumference of the confining area decreases- in other words, the wind speed and force actually increases under overpasses. At least a few souls that I know of found this out the hard way. If you're caught outside, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to lie smooshed-down, as flat as you can, into the nearest gulley or ditch; cover your head and neck with your arms so that you have at least some protection from debris. Hopefully, this tactic will shield you from debris, and may reduce the suction force since wind speeds slow down considerably in the boundary layer due to friction forces.\n\nIf you're in your car, abandon it and follow the procedure in paragraph 3 - you do not have the experience to know how to drive around a tornado and stay (relatively) safe. If you're in an apartment or trailer, either seek shelter in the storm shelter the property managers have (hopefully) put on-site or follow either the outdoor procedures (trailer park residents) or the following house advice (apartment dwellers). If you're in an apartment which does not have a shelter, or a house, seek shelter either (ideally) in a basement or in a window-less, centrally-located bathroom - or if all else fails, closet. You need windowless because you want to avoid flying glass and debris, and central because most tornados that strike are F3 or lower, which will only typically take the outer walls, and leave inner rooms intact. Bathrooms offer more protection than closets, because of the plumbing in the walls (of course, this only really applies if the plumb
222466
Dave in NC answered it perfectly.  Ill just add, if you are asking why tornados form over land- The rapid increase in heat needed to cause formation of tornados generally occurs only over land, since water modulates changes in heat.  However, sometimes they do form, but they are called waterspouts, and usually occur near hurricanes.
346138
Their climate causes tornadoes. When a hot and cold front meet, it creates a storm that can lead to a tornado. Tornadoes are caused by warm weather.
481590
Tornadoes are created from severe Thunderstorms. They occur when a high pressure front meets head on with a low pressure front. No where is this more evident than in our mid-west, otherwise known as tornado alley, from the Canadian provinces to the Gulf of Mexico. Here, the Siberian express from Canada meets the warm tropical front from the Gulf of Mexico.
563821
Increase.  I have seen a tornado up close, like right over head.  It brought in two different winds and they ran around in a circle.  The faster they blew, the stronger the storm.  A hurricane is like a great big whirlwind.  A large amount of the damage attributed to a hurricane is often done by the tornadoes it creates by the unstable air on its edges.  Best advice...Stay out of their way.
398680
Go to Yahoo or Google and search for Tornado Alley, that is the midwest part of the u.s. where tornados are most prevalent.. hope it helps!!
392790
A tornado watch means that weather conditions are favorable for producing a tornado.  Doesn't mean that there will be one.\nA tornado warning means that a tornado has either been spotted or Doppler radar indicates the presence of a tornado.\nIn any case, you want to go down into your basement if you are inside or a central room like a bathroom and make sure to bring a flashlight and maybe even a small battery operated radio to check the weather status.\nIf you are outside or in a car, get out of the car and lay as low as possible, preferably in a ditch.  Watch for accumulating water and flash floods to avoid drowning. Do NOT go underneath a bridge, flying debris can easily strike and kill you there.\nIf inside a public building, look for the storm shelter and if no storm shelter, go to the NE corner of the building since tornadoes typically travel from SW to NE.
274665
The definition of a tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from the base of a thunderstorm to ground level.  The circulation MUST go all the way to the ground and all the way to the cloud base.  There does not need to be a visible funnel for a tornado to occur.  The visible funnel often is the result of debris or rain being wrapped into the circulation.  This is why tornadoes come in different colors.  A tornado that moves over the red dirt of Oklahoma may take on a red hue, while one that moves over black soil may look black.  There are even "white" tornadoes, which get their tone from moisture being wrapped in.\n\nRadar is useful for determining if a thunderstorm has the necessary circulation in the mid levels to produce a tornado or that a storm COULD produce a tornado, but it can't tell if that circulation is actually on the ground.  Only human eyes can tell that.  As a result, the National Weather Service works with specially trained volunteer weather spotters through a program called SKYWARN.  These spotters are mostly volunteers, most of whom are licensed Amateur Radio operators.  These spotters monitor the storms from the field and radio reports of tornadoes or other hazardous weather to a liaison or directly to the NWS.  Some spotters also "chase" storms.  They watch the weather forecasts and may travel to areas where storms are likely to form.\n\nI'm a SKYWARN weather spotter, and have seen several tornadoes over the years.  It's a real trip to see a tornado form, move and eventually "rope out" and die.  However, it's very dangerous to get close to one (obviously!).  I was just in the right/wrong place at the time...\n\nThe sites I have listed below are ones that I have found useful over the years.  You can even get your own local weather by going to the first link (NWS) on the list and entering in your ZIP or by clicking your area on the map.\n\n*Edited to add another great link (SPC website)
314785
A tornado WATCH means conditions are right for a tornado to occur.  A tornado WARNING means a tornado has been sighted in the posted area or is visible on radar.