Hurricanes and Tornadoes
Hurricanes and tornadoes are wind-based natural disasters. Find out more about what causes them in this report and how they are different.
What Causes Hurricanes?
When water condenses, it releases heat, warming the surrounding air. Usually, the heat released this way in tropical thunderstorms is carried away by wind shear, which blows the tops off the thunderstorms. But when there is little wind shear, the heat can build up, causing low pressure. This low pressure causes wind to spiral inward toward the center of the low. These winds help evaporate more water vapor, making the hurricane stronger.
What Causes Tornadoes?
Tornadoes form in unusually violent thunderstorms when there is sufficient (1) instability and (2) wind shear present in the lower atmosphere. Instability refers to unusually warm and humid conditions in the lower atmosphere, and possibly cooler than usual conditions in the upper atmosphere. Wind shear in this case refers to the wind direction changing, and the wind speed increasing, with height. This kind of wind shear and instability usually exists only ahead of a cold front and low pressure system. The intense spinning of a tornado is partly the result of the updrafts and downdrafts in the thunderstorm interacting with the wind shear, resulting in a tilting of the wind shear to form an upright tornado vortex. Helping the process along, flowing air around the tornado, already slowly spinning, converges inward, causing it to spin faster.
Tornado VS Hurricane
Source: http://www.hurricanescience.org/society/impacts/tornadoes/
Facts About Hurricanes
1. Hurricanes usually form in tropical areas of the world.
2. Hurricanes develop over warm water and use it as an energy source.
3. Hurricanes lose strength as they move over land.
4. Coastal regions are most at danger from hurricanes.
5. As well as violent winds and heavy rain, hurricanes can also create tornadoes, high waves and widespread flooding.
6. Weather in the eye of a hurricane is usually calm.
7. The eye of a hurricane can be anywhere from 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) in diameter to over 200 miles (320 kilometers) but they are usually around 30 miles (48 kilometers).
Facts About Tornadoes
1. Tornadoes are sometimes called twisters.
2. The Fujita Scale is a common way of measuring the strength of tornadoes. The scale ranges from F0 tornadoes that cause minimal damage through to F5 tornadoes which cause massive damage.
3. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour).
4. Extreme tornadoes can reach wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour (483 kilometers per hour)!
5. Most tornadoes travel a few miles before exhausting themselves.
6. Extreme tornadoes can travel much further, sometimes over 100 miles (kilometers)!
7. The Tri-State Tornado that traveled through parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in 1925 left a path of destruction over 219 miles (352 kilometers) long.
What Causes Tornadoes?
Tornadoes form in unusually violent thunderstorms when there is sufficient (1) instability and (2) wind shear present in the lower atmosphere. Instability refers to unusually warm and humid conditions in the lower atmosphere, and possibly cooler than usual conditions in the upper atmosphere. Wind shear in this case refers to the wind direction changing, and the wind speed increasing, with height. This kind of wind shear and instability usually exists only ahead of a cold front and low pressure system. The intense spinning of a tornado is partly the result of the updrafts and downdrafts in the thunderstorm interacting with the wind shear, resulting in a tilting of the wind shear to form an upright tornado vortex. Helping the process along, flowing air around the tornado, already slowly spinning, converges inward, causing it to spin faster.
Tornado VS Hurricane
Facts About Hurricanes
1. Hurricanes usually form in tropical areas of the world.
2. Hurricanes develop over warm water and use it as an energy source.
3. Hurricanes lose strength as they move over land.
4. Coastal regions are most at danger from hurricanes.
5. As well as violent winds and heavy rain, hurricanes can also create tornadoes, high waves and widespread flooding.
6. Weather in the eye of a hurricane is usually calm.
7. The eye of a hurricane can be anywhere from 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) in diameter to over 200 miles (320 kilometers) but they are usually around 30 miles (48 kilometers).
Facts About Tornadoes
1. Tornadoes are sometimes called twisters.
2. The Fujita Scale is a common way of measuring the strength of tornadoes. The scale ranges from F0 tornadoes that cause minimal damage through to F5 tornadoes which cause massive damage.
3. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour).
4. Extreme tornadoes can reach wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour (483 kilometers per hour)!
5. Most tornadoes travel a few miles before exhausting themselves.
6. Extreme tornadoes can travel much further, sometimes over 100 miles (kilometers)!
7. The Tri-State Tornado that traveled through parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in 1925 left a path of destruction over 219 miles (352 kilometers) long.
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