Illustrated tornado from the book The Wizard of Oz
© W. R. Wright, Piglet Press Inc. (www.halcyon.com/piglet/)
Tornado Notification
Tornadoes are very dangerous. This is why it's important to know when
they are going to form. Forecastors at the National Weather Service are
always looking for storms that could pop up. Nobody knows exactly how
tornadoes
form,
but they do know what conditions they need in order to form. When the
conditions are right for tornadoes, forecastors issue a tornado watch.
Forecastors will issue a tornado warning when they know a tornado is
forming or has already formed. They train tornado
spotters to go out and
look for tornadoes. If a spotter sees a tornado, the Weather Service will
issue a warning. Another tool meteorologists have for
forecasting tornadoes
is
radar. The may
issue a warning based on the radar picture if a tornado looks like it's
starting.
You can hear about a warning different ways. Most cities have tornado
sirens that go off if there's a warning. Also, you will hear about
warnings on television or radio.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
The
Fall 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere, is available in our
online store.
You might also be interested in:
What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences?
...more
Meteorologists use radar to forecast where tonadoes might form. But, the radar can't detect actual tornadoes. People are needed for that. That's a problem because people without any training don't know
...more
Tornadoes are hard to forecast. They don't last very long so there's not much time to figure out what's happening. Also, scientists don't really know how they form. They know what the weather's like when
...more
Most of the world's tornadoes happen in the United States. These tornadoes are around Tornado Alley. There are about 750 tornadoes each year in the U.S. An average of about 100 people are killed each year
...more
It is important to be ready for tornadoes because they are very dangerous. You and your family should make a plan for where you should go to be safe if there is a tornado where you are. Most places like
...more
Sound travels in waves. When the waves hit your ear, you hear a sound. Have you ever noticed the waves in the ocean? They go up and down, up and down. Sound waves act the same way. The number of times
...more
Storm chasers are different than storm spotters. Chasers travel around Tornado Alley looking for severe storms and tornadoes. Sometime there are dozens of chasers following the same storm. All kinds of
...more
A tornado is the most destructive natural storm. You might think that this also means that tornadoes are the strongest storms; that's not the case. In fact, a thunderstorm which produces a tornado can
...more
