Free Essay On The Power Of Tornadoes

Tornadoes are the most violent windstorms that possess the power to destroy everything that comes in their path. They occur in almost all the parts of the world except the Polar Regions; however, the United States is the country that experiences the highest number of tornadoes than any other country. The south-east, south-west and mid-west parts of the country experience the highest number of tornadoes in the United States . The winds caused by tornadoes range over 300 miles an hour and cause great harm to trees, vehicles and even buildings. One of the major causes for the occurrence of tornadoes is the natural changes occurring in the weather. Tropical cyclones, such as hurricanes, storms and typhoons have the power to trigger tornadoes. The biggest outbreak of tornado ever recorded in the world was the outbreak of 1974. Within a timeframe of 24 hours, the outbreak produced over 148 tornadoes, which caused destruction over a wide area .
The most recent outbreak that captured the lives of about 38 people was the 2003 outbreak that generated over 84 tornadoes in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The 1999 outbreak in Kansas and Oklahoma is another outbreak that produced about 21 tornadoes within a span of 21 hours . The formation of tornadoes requires violent upcurrents. A big cloud joins a tornadic storm extending its base upwards and stretches over several miles. The inner edge of the tornado, called anvil stretches towards the right direction in the Northern Hemisphere and towards the left direction in the Southern Hemisphere. Another factor responsible for the occurrence of tornadoes is the wind shear, which refers to the change in the direction and speed of the wind. Tornadoes that occur in the absence of mesocyclones are small and less violent when compared to those, which occur in the presence of mesocyclones . Fire storms are also responsible for the occurrence of tornadoes.
Tornadoes require a layer of warm air near the ground in addition to a layer of cold air above it. As the warm air cools upon rising, it condenses into water vapor producing heat. Heat thus produced aids the air to rise further up to 9000 meters and spreads sideways to form an anvil cloud producing tornadoes. The tornado scale, also known as the Fujita-Pearson scale helps to measure the intensity of the tornadoes . The scale ranges from F0 to F5 depending on the damage caused by the tornadoes. It has various indicators with respect to the wind speed, which indicate the level of damage caused by the tornadoes. The winds formed by the tornadoes are the fastest in the world taking the lives of hundreds of Americans every year. Most of the tornadoes occur in the spring and early summer seasons due to the changing wind patterns. The buildings located in the Tornado Alley, which is the central part of the United States have strong basement shelters as a protective measure against the damage caused by the tornadoes .
The 1999 monster tornado was capable of destroying over 95 percent of the town of Greensburg in Kansas. It leveled the schools, churches, houses and huge buildings to the ground. The biggest tornado occurred on 22nd May, 2004 in Hallam, Nebraska with a peak width of over 2.5 miles . Heavy rains and hailstorms accompany the tornadoes and the powerful winds of the tornadoes can suck human beings and animals, and have the capacity to carry off vehicles too. Tornadoes are also famous for dislocating electric poles and telephone lines leading to the breakdown of power outages and communication. Satellite imagery and computer modeling help to track and forecast the storms with a great accuracy; however, in the case of tornadoes, it is not possible to do so as they form quickly within minutes and travel in unpredictable directions. But most of the tornadoes tend to travel from south-west to the north-east direction and tornado-generating cloud systems aid in the possible prediction of tornadoes to some extent. Laser equipment helps to anticipate the possible formation of tornadoes by analyzing the weather changes . It is the duty of the police officers, volunteer reporters and emergency forces to alert the individuals to take immediate action in the occurrence of tornadoes.
There is no known device or force until today that has the capacity to stop the tornadoes. Though disrupting the air currents and collapsing the rotating winds is an option to halt the tornadoes, the winds are so vast that no force other than the nuclear explosion has the power to do so, which does more harm than good. Scientists have been looking constantly for control measures, such as lasers or electrical mechanisms that have the power to restrict the exchange of electrical energy in the tornadoes . Seeding thunderclouds through the use of chemicals, such as dry ice helps to prevent the formation of tornadoes by dissipating the energy source. However, there is no assertion that electrical forces are responsible for the cause and promotion of the tornadoes. National Severe Storms Forecast Center plays a vital role in establishing watch areas and identifying the tornadoes, which aids in the process of warning and evacuating the citizens and communities . Thus, tornadoes are the most violent environmental hazards that have the capacity to devastate everything that comes in their path.

Works Cited

Church, C., et al. "Risk Factors for Death or Injury in Tornadoes: an Epidemiologic Approach." The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards (2013): 523.
Fujita, T. Theodore. "Tornadoes around the World." Weatherwise (2010): 56-83.
Speheger, Douglas A., Charles A. Doswell III and Gregory J. Stumpf. "The Tornadoes of 3 May 1999: Event Verification in Central Oklahoma and Related Issues." American Meteorological Society (2002): 362-381.