Forecasters can anticipate tornado-producing storms, and the most sophisticated weather forecasting systems ever exist.
Tornadoes, though, can arise in as little as a few minutes, and it is still very challenging to foresee when and where they'll occur.
Tornadoes Are Extremely Hard to Predict
Benjamin Krain/Getty Images
Dr. Jana Houser, an associate professor of meteorology at Ohio State University and an atmospheric scientist having expertise in the study of supercells and tornadoes, explained that forecasting tornadoes works on two levels, as per Newsweek.
The first level is when starting to investigate tornado-prone areas. This lets us recognize and characterize tornado-prone environments a few days in advance. The second level is a little trickier.
Storms begin to form at this time, and scientists attempt to predict whether a tornado will occur. Around 26% of all tornadoes worldwide occurred in the United States over a five-year period, according to a 2010 study that was published in the Journal of the American Meteorological Society.
Most of these tornadoes that were unwarranted were, however, weak. According to the study, non-warned tornadoes accounted for 11% of all tornadoes which resulted in fatalities. About tornadoes, there are a lot of erroneous alarms.
The fact that tornadoes can have tremendously high wind speeds makes them extremely deadly. According to Houser, tornadoes have been linked to some of the world's fastest wind speeds.
Wind speeds in a tornado typically range from 100 to 120 mph. Wind speeds of more than 300 mph have been recorded for the most ferocious tornadoes.
Hence, when tremendous wind speeds strike structures, they rip apart. Debris starts to fly in the air because of the winds.
A tornado can develop in any type of severe thunderstorm, but supercell storms tend to produce most of them. These storms are uncommon, though.
Supercell storms are long-lasting, intense storms that circulate from above. The circulation above in these storms expands upward through into the storm and then downward towards the ground.
Just around 30% of supercell storms produce tornadoes, but most of them produce intense weather. Before the tornado ever arises, there must be a reasonably intense rotation on the ground. It's not totally apparent where this rotation comes from, and not every tornado will rotate in the same direction.
The majority of the time, it comes from the forward (or northeastern) half of the storm, where warmer, more buoyant air from the outside atmosphere meets downward-moving rain and cooled air.
This rotating air is now forced to the ground by the downwardly traveling air while also acting to realign it and stop spinning.
The rotation is focused and pushed upward when this region of rotation becomes collinear beneath the powerfully upward-directed air moving into the storm's updraft. The spinning then swiftly becomes more intense and, over time, rises upward to create a tornado.
Places Tornadoes Mostly Occurred
Nonetheless, the central plains east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Appalachians are where tornadoes most frequently occur in the United States, as per National Weather Service.
The southern states in the early spring and the northern tier states in the summer are where they are most frequent, and they typically happen in the late afternoon or evening during the spring and summer.
Tornadoes, however, can happen at any time of day and at any time throughout the year. Additionally, they can develop in a wide range of other regions of the world, such as Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.
