I grew up in what was, and is, called “Tornado Alley.” Beginning just about this time of year and lasting until the first part of June, tornado warnings were pretty much a daily occurrence. When I was a kid, it seems like most tornadoes struck somewhere along Tornado Alley, a flat stretch of land from western Texas to North Dakota. This region was a hotspot for tornadoes because the dry polar air from Canada met the warm moist tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico — for most of the rest of the U.S, tornadoes were a rarity. But for whatever reason, that’s changed today…. just about anyplace can have a tornado.
My mother was the ultimate “cloud watcher,” especially around this time of the year and she almost never saw a cloud that she didn’t think a tornado was going to drop out of. I heard all sorts of her theories about tornadoes and some I still hear today, but most of them are simply not true.
When we lived in Oklahoma, pretty much all the weather moved from the southwest to the northeast. I still hear today that you should go to the southwest corner of your basement during a tornado warning. Tornadoes can move in any direction, so hiding in one corner is no more beneficial than any other. In fact, occupying the area that is closest to the approaching tornado — whether above the ground or in the basement — results in the most fatalities. A study conducted in the 1960s showed that the north side of a house is the safest area, both above ground and below. I might mention that where I grew up in Oklahoma, houses didn’t have basements, so during tornadoes, people went the “southwest corner” of their houses — or into the bathroom, which was supposedly a safer place because of the plumbing pipes being well anchored in the ground. But most people, like my mother, insisted on having a storm cellar — a hole dug underground to protect you from tornadoes.
Another (false) precaution that minimizes damage due to a tornado, is opening all the windows in your house — to equalize the pressure. Engineers agree that a storm with 260-mile-per-hour winds — classified as an F4, or “devastating” tornado — creates a pressure drop of only 10 percent. Houses and building have enough vents and natural openings to easily accommodate that.
One belief is that tornadoes never strike large cities. This is another myth that persists today. The combination of traffic, dense activity, and considerable amounts of concrete and asphalt in large cities creates what is known as a “heat island.” This rising warm air has the potential to disrupt minor tornado activity, but it’s no match for the fury of larger tornadoes. Cities also occupy a much smaller geographic area than rural regions of the country, so the chance that a tornado will strike a city is relatively small. But — on a single day in 1998, three major tornadoes struck Nashville, Tennessee. St. Louis, Missouri, witnessed ten tornadoes between 1871 and 2007, resulting to more than 370 deaths. An F3 tornado tore through Dallas in 1957. In 1997, tornadoes touched down in Miami and Cincinnati, and another hit Fort Worth, Texas, in 2000.
Other “myths” about tornadoes I grew up hearing constantly include…Tornadoes are alway clearly visible ahead. No — tornadoes can be obscured or even invisible due to rain or nearby clouds.
If you’re in a car, you can out-drive a tornado. No again — tornadoes can travel well over 60 mph… and cars can easily be lifted or blown over by the storm.
The best protection from a tornado while in the car is hiding under an overpass. Experts agree that this will put you at more risk. The structure may not be stable and increases your risk of bing hit by flying debris.
You only need to worry about tornadoes during “tornado season.” That almost, kind of, seemed to be true when I was growing up, but today tornadoes often happen at any time of the year, not just the spring.
The formation of a tornado is so complex that scientists still don’t completely understand it. And the unpredictability of tornadoes makes them difficult — and dangerous — to study. A tornado will demolish everything in its path, including measuring equipment. And so, the secrets behind one of nature’s mysteries are yet to be discovered…. Happy Spring!
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