Tornados are among the most destructive and unpredictable natural disasters that can threaten your home and family. The strength of tornado vortices are rated on a scale called the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This scale measures storms on the basis of the amount of damage done to various structures and natural features. For this reason, the actual force of a particular tornado cannot be determined until after it has passed. However, projections can be made based on wind speed and weather conditions that give the public an idea of how to prepare when a storm is eminent. Emergency broadcasts often predict tornado strength using the Enhance Fujita Scale, so it is vital to have an understanding of what these ratings mean in order to be ready and stay safe.
Tornado Preparedness-The Keys to Safety
Tornadoes touch down randomly and can occur at a moment’s notice. Being prepared and knowing what to do before, during, and after a tornado could keep you alive if a disaster were to strike. There are about 1000 tornadoes that touch down in a given year. They occur mainly from March to June. The majority forming in Tornado Alley which covers the area between the Rockies and the Appalachian Mountains. This central region is where cool dry Canadian air mixes with the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico resulting in optimal weather conditions for funnel clouds.
Tornadoes – How Are They Formed?
Anyone who lives in the central United States is familiar with the term Tornado Alley. This is the region of the country where tornadoes are most likely to occur, the place where warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cool, dry air coming from Canada spawning the powerful storms that produce tornadoes. Tornado Alley encompasses much of the central region of the United States from North Dakota to Texas and east to Ohio and the western portions of Kentucky and Tennessee. This is where the most severe tornados form with the most frequency. Texas boasts the most tornadoes but Kansas and Oklahoma, second and third in numbers of tornadoes, actually have more tornadoes per land area. Florida has a large number of tornadoes but they are rarely of the intensity that occurs in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Staying Safe During the Tornado Seasons
Tornados are destructive and awesome storms that have an uncanny knack of taking one house away on a block, and leaving the rest. Meteorologists are continuously baffled at this phenomenon. Due to the unpredictable nature of tornadoes, it is important that people know how to stay safe before, during, and after a tornado. The first rule of thumb is to always get below ground in a basement or storm cellar if possible. If people do not have a basement in their homes, they should get to the strongest point of a house, such as the bathtub, a closet, or a hallway on the lowest floor. If a person is in a hallway they should place a mattresses over their bodies and head to help protect them if the roof caves in, and the walls fall down all around them. When children are in school, walking single file to the hallway and hunching down on their knees with their heads protected is the best course during a tornado. Tornadoes can happen at any time, but the peak seasons are mostly known to be the spring time during March through May, but many tornadoes are known to happen during the summers in June through September, as well as during the winter months. Tornadoes that are most prone to hit are in places called Tornado Alley, which are in the central part of the United States which are between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. These states include Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Colorado, and even as far as Florida. Other places that tornadoes have been known to hit are Pennsylvania, parts of Canada, Ohio Valley, and the Great Lakes areas. Tornadoes can happen anywhere where two different warm and cold air masses collide.