Tornadoes

By Bryant

Tornadoes are destructive forces of natureand are most common in the eastern part of the United States, and often occur in spring and summer. The United States has the highest frequency of tornado incidents worldwide.More than eight thousand tornadoes are found every year in the world. There is an area dubbed “tornado alley” that goes through ten states and starts from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains and from Iowa to Nebraska to the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. But tornadoes mostly happen in the states of Oklahoma and Florida.

Tornadoes can occur with the presence of lightning and sometimes thunder.A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.Tornadoes are made when hot air and cold air start chasing each other and start spinning faster and faster until they become a tornado. Tornadoes can grow up to fifty thousand feet high.

Meteorologists have voted the month of April to be the deadliest when it comes to tornadoes. Tornadoes can leave a path up to fifty yards wide and maybe even up to a mile. They travel at twenty to sixty miles per hour. Some tornadoes are capable of lifting houses at speeds of two hundred and sixty-one miles or more and can hurl them up to about twenty miles. Florida tornadoes are generally weak with winds at fifty miles per hour. On April 3rd through April 4th, 1974, one hundred and forty-eight twisters struck thirteen states causing more than three hundred deaths.Tornadoes can be fascinating to some and dangerous to others, but no matter what, they can happen anytime!

  • They can grow to 50,000 feet high.
  • Made when hot and cold air chase each other
  • Often occur with lightning
  • They can travel 20-60 miles per hour
  • Can leave path up to 50 yards wide maybe a mile
  • The US has the highest frequency of tornadoes incidents worldwide

Works Cited

CDC Tornadoes." CDC Emergency Preparedness & Response Site. Cdc Tornadoes. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. <

"Tornadoes Are Earth's Most Violent Storms." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. U.S.A Today, 12 Sept. 2006. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. <

"Tornadoes." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. 31 Oct. 2004. Web. 14 Jan. 2011. <