Although the full details of how tornadoes form are not well known, they generally form in a huge, rotating thunderstorm called a supercell. Supercell thunderstorms form where cold dry polar air meets warm moist tropical air. When this happens the warm updraft punches through the overlying, stable layer and continues upward into a zone of cool, dry air. The resulting instabilities produce powerful vortex motions, the lifeblood of tornadoes.
Project Ideas:
- Map the most famous tornadoes and give the conditions that made them so big.
- Make your own tornado.
- Make a picture chart of the formation of a vortex.
- What is the damage caused by tornadoes? How can people protect themselves?
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