|
|
Twisting
Tornadoes
|
In Explore you can stand in the eye of a 2m
high tornado and feel the moist air swirl around you.
Or 'Make your own
tornado' and discover how a tornado forms.
A swirling tornado or twister can be
100m wide and reach speeds of 500 km/h. They can lift roofs off houses
and even sweep animals in to the air.
The destructive force of a tornado is
measured on the Fujita Scale.
| Force 0 |
64-119 km/h |
Light damage, tree
branches break. |
| Force 1 |
120-180 km/h |
Roof tiles blown
off, cars moved |
| Force 2 |
181-250 km/h |
Whole roofs torn
off, trees uprooted |
| Force 3 |
251-330 km/h |
Houses flattened,
forests blown down |
| Force 4 |
331-420 km/h |
Houses destroyed,
cars thrown about |
| Force 5 |
421-510 km/h |
Damage to concrete
buildings |
|
Walk-in tornado in Curiosity Zone |
|
When air and
water's in a spin
There are lots of different
natural vortices. From spinning eddies of leaves and dust in the street, to weather systems and hurricanes visible
from space.
Here's a list of nature's larger
vortices:
Tornadoes are one of nature’s
most destructive phenomena, with winds that can reach 500 kilometres
per hour.
Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over the sea and suck up
huge quantities of water. They have terrified and amazed sailors for
centuries.
Hurricanes are similar to tornadoes but much bigger
– often hundreds of kilometres wide. They usually start over warm
tropical seas and, fortunately, weaken when they reach land.
Typhoons are similar to hurricanes - the name comes from the
Chinese and means ‘wind which strikes’.
|
Tornado
Hurricane |
Do you know …?
Can a tornado lift a person?
Yes - in Kansas in 1930 a man was
carried over a kilometre but sadly did not live to tell the tale.
However, most things are thrown outwards by the force of a tornado
rather than being sucked up and carried away.
|
Do other planets have vortices?
Yes. Earth isn’t the only planet with
a swirling atmosphere. Jupiter's Giant Red Spot is a storm that has
been raging for more than 300 years. The Red Spot is three times
bigger than the Earth.
Further out in space, spiral galaxies
with millions of stars look like vortices, but form in a different
way.
|
Earth's swirling atmosphere |
Can a tornado pluck a chicken?
No, this is a tornado myth.
However, chickens can lose their
feathers when they are very frightened. This ‘flight moult’ helps
them to escape. Predators get a mouthful of feathers and the chicken
gets away.
In a tornado, a chicken can be so
frightened that its feathers become loose and are blown off.
|
