Tornado: this is how a thunderstorm produces this meteorological phenomenon

Many towns in the US will have to rebuild after tornadoes 2:44 (CNN) — Tornadoes are one of the most violent forces of nature on Earth. They have occurred in all 50 states in the United States and have been seen throughout the year. Although they are more common in the US, tornadoes can occur all over the world. While great strides have been made in the study of tornadoes, there is still a lot we don’t know about them. In recent decades they have been studied extensively to find out what causes them and how they are formed. CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller, who is also a storm chaser, has been following and studying these events since 2005. “One thing you learn from studying tornadoes, especially in the field, is that there is no perfect formula for the formation of a tornado. tornado: every storm is unique,” says Miller. An aerial view from a drone shows damage to homes caused by a tornado on March 26, 2021, in Newnan, Georgia. According to reports, a tornado of category EF-4 passed through the region. (Photo: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) “Sometimes a storm may seem like it’s in the perfect environment for a tornado to form, but it never does. In contrast, tornadoes often form in fringe environments in one or more ‘ingredients’ for storm formation appear to be missing,” says Miller. Although there is no perfect formula for which storms will produce tornadoes, there are common elements in the anatomy of the systems that give rise to tornadoes. There are even signs that can be seen to help understand the life cycle of a developing storm that could produce a tornado. The development of a thunderstorm As the warm air rises, the clouds begin to grow larger and larger. This is the development phase of the storm. You can see how the fluffy white cumulus clouds grow with your own eyes. This happens before you see the rain or hear the thunder. As a storm develops, the air rises, helping the cloud to grow larger and larger. As the clouds get larger, you will notice that the bottom of the cloud darkens. Many times you will see the top of the cloud flatten out, creating an anvil shape that protrudes from the top of the cloud. This indicates that there is very cold air at the top of the cloud and could be a precursor to the possibility of hail. When a storm becomes a supercell As the storm matures, it could become what is known as a supercell. A supercell is a rotating electrical storm. “Nearly all supercells produce some form of severe weather (large hail or damaging winds), but only 30% or less produce tornadoes,” says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The cold air leaving the storm cloud produces a gust front or thunderstorm front. During this mature phase of the storm or supercell, heavy rain, lightning, hail, and very high winds are expected. Sometimes a strong gust of wind will be felt a few moments before the rain arrives. This is called a gust front. The cause is cold air descending from the storm cloud. When cold air hits the ground, it spreads out quickly, getting ahead of the storm. This is a sure sign that a storm is near. The formation of a tornado Tornadoes usually form from supercells. These supercells thrive when there are several ingredients that help them thrive: instability, uplift, and wind shear. Within the supercell, wind shear becomes a crucial component of storm development. Wind shear occurs when winds change direction with height. This creates a twist within the thunderstorm cloud. Another force acting inside the supercell is a downdraft. This is an area of ​​drier air being pushed down from the storm. Being pushed down, it engulfs the rear of the storm. The updrafts and downdrafts work together to pull the horizontal column of air down to form the tornado. This vertical column of air is called a funnel cloud until it hits the ground, at which point it becomes a tornado. The most telltale sign that a tornado is forming, when watching a severe thunderstorm up close, is the ‘wall cloud,'” says Miller. The wall cloud is a lowering of the cloud base that will lead to to the vortex, or spin of the air. When this rotating column of air hits the ground, a tornado has formed. The presence of a wall cloud doesn’t always mean a tornado is going to form, but it certainly increases the odds.” You’ll know you’re looking at a wall cloud because it will be noticeably lower than the rest of the storm, and you can tell it’s rotating if you look closely,” says Miller. Tornadoes have produced the strongest winds on record on Earth. Most of Tornadoes are relatively small and short-lived, yet they can still be dangerous and cause damage. However, the most violent tornadoes can be more than a mile wide and remain on the ground for more than an hour. This is due to they have much more momentum than smaller tornadoes, making them more difficult to stop. A tornado makes its way through a field in Minneola, Kansas, on May 24, 2016. Miller has witnessed between 15 and 20 tornadoes during his years of storm chasing. “There’s no denying that there’s a certain amount of excitement that comes from seeing a tornado when you set out with the intention of seeing one,” says Miller. “At the same time, you balance that excitement with a considerable amount of anxiety and worry about what the tornado might do, especially if there are residents in the immediate path of the storm. As someone who has spent years studying, and many more years reporting about tornadoes, it still gets on my nerves when I see a tornado in person.” Chealsea Zuchnic, 3, walks past a tree-wrapped truck wreckage in front of the Zuchnics’ destroyed home in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, on May 4, 1999. Smaller tornadoes have winds of 96 to 177 km/h, while the most violent can have winds from 257 to more than 322 km/h. The strongest winds ever recorded on Earth were those of a tornado, on May 3, 1999, in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, with more than 482 km/h. CNN’s Jackson Dill and CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink contributed to this report.