Top 7 Super terrible Tornado was recorded 

Have you ever seen a terrible Tornado? With tornado season in full swing, it’s a good time to reflect on the United States’ impressive tornado history. According to the NOAA, the United States experiences over 1,000 tornadoes per year, far more than any other country on the planet. Some of those tornadoes can be extremely lethal and destructive, with EF ratings of 4 or 5 on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale. While the Central United States’ “tornado alley” is famous for having a disproportionate share of these more intense tornadoes, they can appear anywhere, especially in “Dixie Alley,” an area in the country’s Southeast. Here’s a look at a few tornadoes that made history over the last century. Let PowerPAC plus show you more

What is tornado?

1. Definition

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that collides with the Earth’s surface as well as a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is also known as a twister, whirlwind, or cyclone.

2. Shape and size

Tornadoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they are frequently visible as a condensation funnel originating from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud, with a cloud of rotating debris and dust beneath it.

3. Speed

Most tornadoes have wind speeds of less than 110 miles per hour (180 kilometers per hour), are about 250 feet (80 meters) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers) before dissipating. Tornadoes can reach wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), have diameters of more than two miles (3 km), and can stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km).

4. Sound 

While a continuous rumble or roar is the most common tornado sound, a tornado can also make other sounds. The sound you hear is determined by several factors, including the size and strength of the tornado, what it is hitting, and how close it is to you. Tornadoes can make the following sounds in addition to a constant rumble or low roar:

• A waterfall or whooshing of air
• A nearby jet engine
• A deafening roar

When a tornado rips through a big city or a densely populated area, it can make a lot of loud noises all at once, making it impossible to hear a specific sound because the noise is so deafeningly loud.

5. Some types of tornado

• Rope tornado 

The rope tornado is the smallest and most common type of twister. While many twisters grow into larger forms, the majority begin and end as rope tornadoes, though some brief twisters retain their rope-like appearance throughout their lives.

• Cone Tornado

Everyone imagines these when they hear the word “tornado.” They have a conical shape because they are wider at the base than rope tornadoes and much wider where they meet the thunderstorm. They can leave a larger trail of destruction because their footprint and path are larger. A cylinder or stovepipe tornado is a similar form in which the twister’s width at ground level and at the base of the thunderstorm are similar.

• Wedge Tornado

Wedge tornadoes are some of the largest tornadoes and can be among the most destructive. They are wider and broader than they are tall. They are typically rated EF-3 or higher and, with a width of half a mile or more, can leave a significant destruction trail. At its peak, the El Reno tornado in Oklahoma in May 2013 was 2.6 miles wide.

• Multi-Vortex and Satellite Tornadoes

Multiple tornadoes are spawned at the same time by a few supercell thunderstorms. A multi-vortex tornado is one that has two or more smaller subvortices swirling around its center. Each sub vortex can generate much stronger winds than the parent circulation. This can result in patterns of extreme damage next to patterns of very little damage. Because dirt and debris are carried upward, sub vortices are usually indistinguishable. A satellite tornado may form near an existing tornado from the same storm in extremely rare cases. These are visible and located further away from the primary tornado. They will orbit the main tornado before dissipating or merging.

What causes Tornado?

When warm, humid air collides with cold, dry air, tornadoes form. The colder, denser air is pushed over the warmer air, resulting in thunderstorms. An updraft occurs when warm air rises through colder air. If the wind speed or direction changes dramatically, the updraft will begin to rotate.

The rotation speed of the rotating updraft, known as a mesocycle, increases as it draws in more warm air from the moving thunderstorm. Even more energy is provided by cool air fed by the jet stream, a strong band of wind in the atmosphere. A funnel cloud is formed by water droplets in the moist air of the mesocyclone. The funnel expands and eventually descends from the cloud. When it collides with the ground, it transforms into a tornado.

Top 7 Super outbreak tornadoes

1. The Tri State Tornado, March 8th, 1925

The Tri State Tornado struck on March 18, 1925, and swept through three states: Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Because the EF scale was not in use at the time, it was determined to be an EF 5 based on the damage it caused.

The tornado was approximately.75 miles wide and traveled at a staggering 59 mph for 219 miles (newer research suggests it had a continuous path of at least 174 miles). It killed 695 people and destroyed over 15,000 homes. The lack of tornado watches and warnings in 1925 was most likely a major factor in the unimaginable devastation.

2. The costliest: Joplin, Missouri on May 22nd, 2011

This EF 5 tornado tore through the city of Joplin, leaving a $2.8 billion damage bill in its wake, just one month after a record-breaking tornado outbreak in the South. 7,500 homes, 500 businesses, and over 15,000 vehicles were all affected. It twisted St. John’s Mercy Hospital to the point where it had to be demolished. It just goes to show that, while tornadoes do not frequently strike densely populated areas, when they do, they can cause catastrophic levels of destruction.

3. Largest and most expensive tornado outbreak: April 25-28, 2011 super outbreak

The April 2011 super outbreak is considered one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Over four days, almost 350 tornadoes cropped up across a wide span of states, from Texas all the way up to New York. Several of these tornadoes were rated EF 4s and 5s, and caused significant amounts of damage. Overall, the amount of storms coupled with the expansive area the outbreak covered resulted in over $12 billion in damages making it the costliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history.

4. Most tornadoes in a month: April, 2011

As a result of the 2011 super outbreak, April 2011 was designated as the month with the most tornado reports on record. May 2003 came in second with 542. Tornadoes are most common in April, May, and June, with May seeing the most.

5. Longest path of a tornado: Tri State Tornado

With its 219 mile (174 continuous mile) path across three states, the 1925 Tri State Tornado takes first place once more. And, at 59 mph, it was able to cover this distance in just three and a half hours.

6. Widest tornado: El Reno, Oklahoma, May 31st, 2013

Tornadoes that are more than a mile wide are uncommon, and those that are more than two miles wide are almost unfathomable. The one that hit El Reno, Oklahoma in 2013 had a width of 2.6 miles. Wide tornadoes are not always the deadliest, but El Reno, Oklahoma was an exception. It was initially rated as an EF 3, but experts believe the lower rating was likely due to the less intense observed damage field because it was primarily traversing rural areas. Despite this, the wind speed was estimated to have reached nearly 300 mph.

7. Tornado with the strongest winds: Oklahoma City, May 3rd, 1999

Wind speeds have only been recorded in a small percentage of tornadoes throughout history, making it impossible to say definitively that this tornado had the strongest winds. However, among those that have recorded wind speeds, the EF4/EF5 that slammed Oklahoma City comes in first with 318 mph. This large tornado caused extensive damage because it struck a densely populated area. It was also responsible for the deaths of 36 people.

Conclusion

If you are in an area where a tornado warning is in effect, you must act quickly. Make your way to a safe location, such as a storm shelter. If you don’t have one, the best place to hide is usually in the basement or the center of a building, away from windows and preferably in an area with reinforced walls. Those in the path of a tornado emergency, like those in the path of a tornado warning, should seek shelter and wait for authorities to say when it’s safe to return outside.