Science
Related: About this forumNew research may upend what we know about how tornadoes form
As the climate changes, twister behavior on the ground is changing too
BY CAROLYN GRAMLING 2:06PM, DECEMBER 14, 2018
WASHINGTON Tornadoes may form from the ground up, rather than the top down.
That could sound counterintuitive. Many people may picture a funnel cloud emerging from the bottom of a dark mass of thunderstorms and then extending to the ground, atmospheric scientist Jana Houser said December 13 in a news conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting.
Scientists have long debated where the wind rotations that lead to twisters in these thunderstorms begin. Now Houser, of Ohio University in Athens, and her colleagues have new data that upend this top-down idea of tornadogenesis.
The supercell thunderstorms that can spawn tornadoes form where a powerful updraft of warm, moist air such as air moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico gets trapped beneath a layer of colder, drier air such as air moving southward from Canada. Thats an inherently unstable condition, but the other necessary ingredient for tornadoes to form is wind shear: fast-moving winds that move the air masses, causing them to rotate horizontally. Air then rising through the supercell can tip the rotation from horizontal to vertical creating conditions ripe for a tornado.
More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-research-may-upend-what-we-know-about-how-tornadoes-form
SWBTATTReg
(22,156 posts)lots of room to improve. We had a small tornado in the STLMO area pop up earlier this year in the STLMO area, and was gone before anyone even knew it was there. Scary still. I grew up around in tornado country all of my life, and these things are nothing to mess around with. Take care.
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)Was terrifying, to say the least.
No one or any animals died ... lots of property damage...as well as my favorite 200+ year oak tree ...
Our weather alert systems had been shrieking for about an hour ... we headed for the basement ... heard all types of things hitting the house ....
I dont recommend it for the faint of heart