Science

     Tornados are when air currents begin to violently rotate and create an air column, and they usually occur during a severe thunderstorm. These natural disasters occur primarily in the middle of the United States where warm, moist Gulf air can mix unobstructed with cold air currents. This combination of warm saturated air meets the cold air and as the warm air rises the cold air wedges downward and begin to rotate counterclockwise and if the air is unstable, it will create large storm clouds that can create tornadoes (Foutz).  This rise and circulation of air creates lifts and wind shears. The lifts are when the surface air reaches higher temperatures to make the air rise or there would be a cold front which forces itself under the hot or warm air forcing it to move upwards as well creating updrafts ("About Tornadoes"). A wind shear is when the wind direction changes in speed with the height and causes the thunderstorm to rotate causing it to also help with the column of air beginning to twist ("About Tornadoes").  When these weather conditions occur it creates a rotating thunderstorm with big updrafts, and strong winds with speeds starting around 65 mph that can reach past 300 mph (Foutz). The funnel clouds created can be small and thin or can get as wide as as 2.6 miles, but it is when they touch the ground they are classified as a tornado ("Twisters and Weird Weather").