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What Are Tornadoes?
Morning Twisters!
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/42e178f7-20f4-4c5f-acf2-513baac35816/TORNADOES_GIF2.gif?t=1717739289)
Have you ever seen one of these things before?
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/1c975990-b3ea-4fe1-b567-ea342bf262d5/Illustration-TORNADOES_1.png?t=1717739319)
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/d15c3f58-f85b-4c91-bfc8-640929e0aff9/Illustration-TORNADOES_1b.png?t=1717739328)
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/ab35ac5a-a4f0-48c5-8ae9-b2863ab0779b/Illustration-TORNADOES_2.png?t=1717739338)
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/5bb7cc2c-4935-47f6-ba86-663c0b6621df/Illustration-TORNADOES_3.png?t=1717739346)
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/5b4b0545-6e3b-41dc-ae3c-10b43f7359ef/Illustration-TORNADOES_4.png?t=1717739353)
Ye, a tornado.
Pretty scary right?
But how do tornadoes actually happen?
First, there are a couple conditions that need to be met for a tornado to form…
They begin with a thunderstorm.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/3abd02fa-0d4e-4da7-b78e-cd8616a100bb/Illustration-TORNADOES_5.png?t=1717739412)
But not just any thunderstorm…
A SUPER POWERFUL one.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/70f79057-4ab4-4ae4-a1ff-7d6f0f3c6487/Illustration-TORNADOES_6.png?t=1717739427)
So powerful they have their own special name: Supercells.
Supercells form when you got air just above the ground going one way…
And air, a bit higher up, going another way.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/b1f86def-40e9-426c-a382-3272cb969be2/Illustration-TORNADOES_7.png?t=1717739444)
This can cause a little horizontal tube of air to form in the sky
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/55090b27-72cf-4057-90d2-55f6b44187e1/Illustration-TORNADOES_8.png?t=1717739453)
Now, in a thunderstorm, warm air rises upwards.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/6fde0397-62a5-4d8a-ad80-2b85c7e28bb9/Illustration-TORNADOES_9.png?t=1717739464)
This is what’s called an updraft.
Basically, it pushes the horizontal tube upwards, making it vertical.
Like this:
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/7517f7ff-9808-4013-b042-d4444d6df3be/Illustration-TORNADOES_10.png?t=1717739475)
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![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/a7cb2677-020a-4a7a-8f16-f265a9b78e26/Illustration-TORNADOES_12.png?t=1717739487)
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/dbeb0b58-d3d6-4983-92d5-c29e5a0ccf98/Illustration-TORNADOES_13.png?t=1717739493)
This causes the whole storm to start spinning, forming… the Supercell thingy.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/f7d68c0a-75e6-45a7-97ba-0096d4de5df1/Illustration-TORNADOES_14.png?t=1717739523)
And if it's JUST powerful enough, and JUST moist enough, a vortex can develop.
Forming a little funnel of air at the base of the Supercell, that (if the conditions are right) slowly reaches down as a giant rotating wall of cloud.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/a9095364-945e-466b-a281-a4d1023fa6b1/Illustration-TORNADOES_15.png?t=1717739540)
And the second this thing touches the ground, it becomes a TORNADO.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/1da769c0-bf00-4c90-99d5-38f42d3805d7/Illustration-TORNADOES_16.png?t=1717739559)
Most don't really last that long, like an hour max.
But they are quite destructive, with winds ranging from 65 - 200 miles per hour.
Strong enough to completely pick up and toss a tree… or a car… or even a house.
So ye.
If you ever see one of these things, you might wanna get underground, or… get moving.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/799c8d5e-0f7b-4d92-9c7b-c9c48e58da17/Illustration-TORNADOES_17.png?t=1717739575)
Stay Cute,
Reece, Henry & Dylan 🌈
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