Weather and Climate

Tornados happen all over the world, mostly between mid March and June.
Early Autumn is tornado season in the Gulf of Mexico.
Springtime is the tornado season in the America Interior.
Most happen in the United States, about 665 occur yearly in the States
The worst tornado was in 1999 in Texas, Oklahoma and lasted 4 hours..the damage to property was $1 billion dollars!
Some of the most severe tornadoes have happened in Canada.
Only 25 a year happen in Canada

One of the most terrifying forces of nature, an extremely violent windstorm.

There is tons of volume of water in the oceans
the water temperature influences the conditions of the air masses that form over it
warm ocean water evaporates more quickly resulting in more clouds and precipitation
Example: The ocean has the ability to absorb, store, and release heat into the atmosphere and by doing so directly affects the land. Changes in ocean temperature cause major climate events such as El Nino, those temperature changes have a huge impact on weather events such as hurricanes, typhoons, floods, and droughts which directly affect the land and the people that live on that land.

The name given to the violent windstorms of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
-these storms mostly happen in late summer and early fall
-producing heavy rains and winds
-they move in a circular motion
-at speeds of more than 120km/hr

An EYE
which is:
a region of calm, even sunny conditions about 50 kms across.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds rotate around the eye in a counter clockwise direction.
In the Southern Hemisphere, they travel in the opposite direction.

By the Beaufort Scale.

It classifies the hurricane's strength based on wind speed.
A scale of wind velocity ranging from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane).

Huge amounts of moist air above the ocean are heated by the sun and rise to form an entire weather system.

As warm air rises, it is replaced by cooler, heavier air that blows in a spiral, creating a weather system that is referred to as a tropical disturbance.

As the rotating winds speed up, the system is upgraded to full hurricane status.

Using the SAFFIR-SIMPSON scale.

The scale measures the intensity of a hurricane, with a level 1 hurricane described as weak and a level 5 as devastating.

Fierce winds and tremendous energy

can cause storm surges, which are sudden rises in sea levels created by high winds pushing water towards the land.
Hurricanes are filled with moisture and release lots of rain
Hurricanes can cause mudslides, swollen rivers and flooding due to all the rain

Tornadoes develop above the interior regions of continents and come from the sky.
Tornadoes start when warm and cool air mix together.
Fast-rising currents of warm, humid air starts the process.
Cool air rushes to the ground
rising warm air rotates around the cool air column and they spiral faster, causing a funnel of air called the VORTEX.

1. winds are powerful enough to blow down trees, tear off roofs and flatten buildings.
2. The pressure difference between vortex and structures can cause buildings to implode..meaning cave in on themselves..yikes!)
3. Air swirls upwards around the vortex and can lift heavy objects.

Fujita-Pearson (FPP) tornado scale
Category F0: Gale tornado (40-72 mph); light damage. Some damage to chimneys; break branches off trees;
Category F1: Moderate tornado (73-112 mph); moderate damage. The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peel surface off roofs;
Category F2: Significant tornado (113-157 mph); considerable damage. roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over;
Category F3: Severe tornado (158-206 mph); Severe damage. Roofs and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forest uprooted; heavy cars lifted off ground and thrown.Category F4: Devastating tornado (207-260 mph); Devastating damage. Well-constructed houses leveled; structure with weak foundation blown off some distance; cars thrownCategory F5: Incredible tornado (261-318 mph); Incredible damage. Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distance to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 yards; trees debarked; incredible phenomena will occur.

During tornado season, meterologists are especially watchful. National weather services in North America collect and share information about developing weather systems.

A system used to make precise measurements of the speed of a moving object, using the reflection of high frequency radio waves.

Aerial photography
satellite imaging
weather balloons
storm chasers