The Tornado

This is an area of Joplin, MO, before (right) and after the recent tornado.  Winds were in excess of 200 miles per hour!

What causes tornadoes?

Basically, in the Spring, warm, wet winds move North from the Gulf of Mexico.  At the same time, cold, dry air moves South from Canada.  (Yeah, it's all our bordering neighbors' fault!)

The cold air moves on top of the warm air, but the warm air tries to rise.  It's blocked by the layer of cold air and continues to rise and fall.  Eventually it becomes strong enough and breaks through the cold-air layer.  When this happens, the cold air begins to sink, sending the warm air spinning upwards violently.

This is the birth of the twister.

It's now time to head for a basement or underground shelter!  

I've been in 65 mph winds before and it was a scary experience.  I can't even imagine being in winds three times that velocity.  It will level anything in its path and send little girls and dogs to Oz.