Tornadoes are zones of extremely rapid, rotating winds beneath the base of cumulonimbus clouds. Though the overwhelming majority of tornadoes rotate cyclonically (counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere), a few spin in the opposite direction. Strong tornadic winds result from extraordinarily large differences in atmospheric pressure over short distances. Over just a few tenths of a kilometer, the pressure difference between the core of a tornado and the area immediately outside the funnel can be as great as 100 mb. In what follows we adopt a northern hemisphere perspective, where “counterclockwise” is cyclonic.
Tornado characteristics and dimensions
It is difficult to generalize about tornadoes because they occur in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. While the majority have diameters of about 50 meters or so, some may extend as much as a kilometer in diameter or more. Usually they last no longer than a few minutes, but some have endured for several hours. Tornadoes normally move...
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Cross-references
Climate Hazards
Synoptic Climatology
Thunderstorms
Vorticity
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Aguado, E., Burt, J.E. (2005). Tornadoes. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_208
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