Definition
A tornado is a rotating wind funnel generated by very large thunderstorms called supercell. In case the wind changes direction, there is an opportunity for moist and cold air to combine forming a rotating funnel.
Introduction
Tornadoes can occur everywhere. In the United States, every year there are more than one thousand tornadoes (Haddow et al. 2014). In term of seasonality, tornadoes occur more frequently from March to August and primarily during the afternoon and evening “between noon and midnight” (Haddow et al. 2014, p. 44). In the United States, tornadoes occur more frequently in an area called “tornado alley” than in other regions. Tornado alley is an area covering several states such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. However, the number of tornadoes now occurring in the southeast, such as in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois, is becoming frequent (Berardelli, December 16, 2018). The main consequences in this shift in tornado location are that...
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Future Readings
Goswick, J., Macgregor, C. J., Hurst, B., Wall, P. J., & White, R. (2018). Lessons identified by the Joplin School Leadership after responding to a Catastrophic Tornado. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 26(4), 544–553.
Schumann, R. L., III, Ash, K. D., & Bowser, G. C. (2018). Tornado warning perception and response: Integrating the roles of visual design, demographics, and hazard experience. Risk Analysis, 38(2), 311–332.
This tornado was particularly remarkable not only because of its width, but also because storms do not usually travel from west to east.
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Velotti, L. (2019). Natural Hazards: Tornadoes. In: Shapiro, L., Maras, MH. (eds) Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_209-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_209-1
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