Thunderstorm Tornado
A thunderstorm, also known A tornado is a violently
as an electrical storm,
Definition lightning storm, or
thundershower, is a storm
characterized by the
presence of lightning and its
acoustic effect on the
Earth's atmosphere, known
as thunder.
Scale TS1: WEAK No tornadoes,
no hail, winds less than 25
mph, only a few lightning
strikes total, rainfall rates
0.03-0.10 of an inch per
hour, no damage.
TS2: MODERATE No
tornadoes, no hail, winds
25-40 mph, 1-10 lightning
strikes per five-minute
interval, rainfall rates 0.10-
0.25 of an inch per hour,
little damage--mainly limited
to breakage of small tree
branches and movement of
lawn furniture.
TS3: HEAVY EF0 tornado
possible, hail 0.25-0.75 of
an inch in diameter, winds
41-57 mph, 10-20 lightning
strikes per five-minute
interval, rainfall rates 0.25-
0.55 of an inch per hour,
minor damage to small
branches and roofs, with
street flooding and
lightning-sparked house
fires possible.
TS4: INTENSE EF1-EF2
tornado possible, hail 1.00-
1.50 inches in diameter,
winds 58-70 mph, 20-30
lightning strikes per five-
minute interval, rainfall rates
0.55-1.25 inches per hour,
moderate damage--wind
damage to trees and
buildings, possible tornado
damage, hail dents in cars,
damage to crops, power
outages, and flooding along
streams, creeks and
roadways.
TS5: EXTREME EF3-EF5
tornado possible, hail larger
than 1.50 inches in
diameter, winds greater
than 70 mph, more than 30
lightning strikes per five-
minute interval, rainfall rates
greater than 1.25 inches per
hour, severe damage--
significant, widespread
damage to trees and
property, flooding, hail
damage to property and
crops, EF3-EF5 tornado
damage possibly
devastating, and
widespread power outages.
ingredients Moisture
Hurricane Typhoon
A hurricane is a type of storm called A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone. A
rotating (usually a tropical cyclone, which forms over typhoon is a large, strong, tropical
counterclockwise in the tropical or subtropical waters. cyclone. A cyclone is a low pressure area
northern hemisphere) column spinning counterclockwise and holding
of air descending from a rising warm air that forms over warm
thunderstorm and in contact water in the western Pacific Ocean.
with the ground.
F0 - < 73mph Light 35-64 kph TROPICAL Category 1 sustain winds between 119
damage. Some damage to DEPRESSION and 154 km/h. It is the first notable stage
chimneys; branches broken 65-118kph TROPICAL STORM in the typhoon formation
off trees; shallow-rooted trees 119-200- HURRICANE/STORM Category 2 Has winds between 155
pushed over; sign boards and 178 km/h. has intense
damaged. thunderstorms that progressively
F1- 73-112mph Moderate intensifies
damage. Peels surface off Category 3- strong typhoon. 179 210
roofs; mobile homes pushed km/h
off foundations or overturned; Category 4 intense typhoon. 211-250
moving autos blown off roads. km/h
F2- 113-157mph Category 5 Violent typhoon exceeding
Considerable 250 km/.h
damage. Roofs torn off frame
houses; mobile homes
demolished; boxcars
overturned; large trees
snapped or uprooted; light-
object missiles generated;
cars lifted off ground.
F3- 158-206mph Severe
damage. Roofs and some
walls torn off well-constructed
houses; trains overturned;
most trees in forest uprooted;
heavy cars lifted off the
ground and thrown.
F4- 207-260mph
Devastating
damage. Well-constructed
houses leveled; structures
with weak foundations blown
away some distance; cars
thrown and large missiles
generated.
F5- 261-318mph
Incredible damage.
Strong frame houses leveled
off foundations and swept
away; automobile-sized
missiles fly through the air in
excess of 100 meters (109
yds); trees debarked;
incredible phenomena will
occur.
*very warm, humid air near use warm, moist air as fuel. That is Warm water, moisture, inward spiraling
 Instability
A Lifting Mechanism
How they * The sun heats the Earth's
form surface during the day. The
heat on the surface and
warms the air around it.
Since warm air is lighter
than cool air, it starts to rise
(known as an updraft). If the
air is moist, then the warm
air condenses into a
cumulus cloud. The cloud
will continue to grow as long
as warm air below it
continues to rise.
* When the cumulus cloud
becomes very large, the
water in it becomes large
and heavy. Raindrops start
to fall through the cloud
when the rising air can no
longer hold them up.
Meanwhile, cool dry air
starts to enter the cloud.
Because cool air is heavier
than warm air, it starts to
descend in the cloud
(known as a downdraft).
The downdraft pulls the
heavy water downward,
making rain. This cloud has
become a cumulonimbus
cloud because it has an
updraft, a downdraft, and
rain. Thunder and lightning
start to occur, as well as
heavy rain. The
cumulonimbus is now a
thunderstorm cell.
* After about 30 minutes,
the thunderstorm begins to
dissipate. This occurs when
the downdrafts in the cloud
begins to dominate over the
updraft. Since warm moist
air can no longer rise, cloud
droplets can no longer form.
The storm dies out with light
rain as the cloud disappears
from bottom to top.
Occurrenc are most likely in the spring
e (season) and summer months
Occurrenc most likely to occur at the
e (time) warmest, most humid part
of the day, which is usually
the afternoon or evening.
Locations Thunderstorms are also
the surface, with colder air
aloft, leading to high
instability
*strong variation of winds with
height (vertical wind shear)
*an upper-level storm system
plowing into the Southeast,
providing lift
*a cold front, pushed
eastward by the upper-level
storm, that separated the
unstable air from cooler, drier
air to the west.
Visual Clues of Tornado
Formation
1. Large, rounded rain-free
base suggests
mesocyclone is present.
2. Increasing spin in wall
cloud and cloud base around
wall cloud suggests low-
level rotation
is increasing.
3. Clear slot forms bright
cloud-free notch eroded in
rain-free base. Suggests
rear-flank
downdraft, possible
mechanism for tornado
formation.
4. Rapid vertical motions
scud rising into wall cloud,
sinking motion around wall
cloud from
rear-flank downdraft.
5. Local burst of heavy
rain/hail just west or
southwest of wall cloud
another possible tornado
formation mechanism
April - June
4-9pm
United States ( southeastern
why they form only over warm ocean winds/ sea surface temperatures,
waters near the equator. atmospheric instability, high humidity in
the lower to middle levels of the
troposphere, enough Coriolis force to
develop a low pressure center, a pre-
existing low level focus or disturbance,
and low vertical wind shear
*The warm, moist air over the ocean -Typhoons start off as tropical
rises upward from near the surface. thunderstorms. The strong winds pull in
Because this air moves up and away moisture from the oceans.
from the surface, there is less air left -The thunderstorms convert the moisture
near the surface. Another way to say into heat. The heat causes more air to
the same thing is that the warm air flow to the centre of the storm causing
rises, causing an area of lower air evaporation.
pressure below. -All the heat and air flow toward the eye
*Air from surrounding areas with creating the typhoon.
higher air pressure pushes in to the
low pressure area. *Then that "new"
air becomes warm and moist and
rises, too. As the warm air continues
to rise, the surrounding air swirls in to
take its place. As the warmed, moist
air rises and cools off, the water in
the air forms clouds. The whole
system of clouds and wind spins and
grows, fed by the ocean's heat and
water evaporating from the surface.
*Storms that form north of the
equator spin counterclockwise.
Storms south of the equator spin
clockwise. This difference is because
of Earth's rotation on its axis.
*As the storm system rotates faster
and faster, an eye forms in the
center. It is very calm and clear in the
eye, with very low air pressure.
Higher pressure air from above flows
down into the eye.
When the winds in the rotating storm
reach 39 mph, the storm is called a
"tropical storm." And when the wind
speeds reach 74 mph, the storm is
officially a "tropical cyclone," or
hurricane.
Tropical cyclones usually weaken
when they hit land, because they are
no longer being "fed" by the energy
from the warm ocean waters.
However, they often move far inland,
dumping many inches of rain and
causing lots of wind damage before
they die out completely.
Atlantic Hurricane Season June 1 throughout the year/ While the majority o
Nov. 30 storms form between June and
November, a few storms do occur
between December and May (although
tropical cyclone formation is at a
minimum during that time)
Antlantic and Caribbean Western Pacific Ocean off the east coast
 usually rare along the
Pacific Coast, since the
summertime air there is
relatively dry. On the other
hand, Florida's Gulf
Coast experiences the
greatest number of
thunderstorms out of
any U.S. location
Duration 30 minutes
Storm 93 kilometers per hour (58
Speed miles per hour)
Storm Size 15 miles in diameter
Life Cycle *Cumulus Stage
*Mature Stage
*Dissipating Stage
state of Florida or in "Tornado
Alley", the central part of the
country (Midwest) where
most of the violent tornadoes
occur.)
hey can last from several
seconds to more than an
hour, however, most don't
exceed 10 minutes.
an average speed of 30 mph,
but the speed has been
observed to range from
almost no motion to 70 mph.
are around 500 feet (150 m)
*Developing Stage
*Mature Stage
*dissipating Stage
*Cyclic Supercells
of Asia near Japan
31 days
at least 74 miles per hour (65 knots) can reach from 75 - 150 MPH. A super
typhoons winds can reach up to 150+
MPH.
stretches 30 miles (48 km) across, generally it is two to three hundred
with some growing as large as 120 kilometers in radius
miles (200 km) wide (eye)
* Formative Stage * Formative Stage
* Immature Stage * Immature Stage
* Mature Stage * Mature Stage
* Decaying Stage * Decaying Stage