WHERE CAN A
TORNADO HAPPEN?
A tornado can happen any
place in the United States at any time of the year. They happen
most frequently in the central, midwestern and southern states, with
peak activity in April, May and June.
HOW OFTEN DOES
A TORNADO OCCUR?
Records show that the average
number of days with tornadoes varies from about twelve per year in
parts of the Midwest to less than one per year in the Northeastern and
far Western states.
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HOW
DO I RECOGNIZE A TORNADO? |
A tornado is usually observed
as a funnel-shaped cloud spinning rapidly and extending toward earth
from the base of a thundercloud. When close by, a tornado sounds
like the roar of hundreds of airplanes.
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| WHAT
IS "TORNADO WEATHER"? |
Hot sticky days with
southerly winds and a threatening ominous sky are considered
"Tornado Weather". Familiar thunderstorm clouds
are usually present, and an hour or two before a tornado, topsy-turvy
clouds appear, sometimes bulging down rather than up. The clouds
often have a greenish-black color. There are however, many such
days with no tornadoes.
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| IS
THERE PRECIPITATION WITH A TORNADO? |
There is rain and frequently
hail preceding the tornado, with a heavy downpour after it has passed.
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| WHAT
TIME OF DAY DO MOST TORNADOES OCCUR? |
A tornado can occur an any
time of day, but most frequently happen between the hours of 3:00 and
8:00 p.m.
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| WHAT
DIRECTION DO TORNADOES TRAVEL? |
In Iowa, 70% of tornadoes move
southwest to northeast; the remaining 30% move northwest to southwest.
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| WHAT
ARE THE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF THE PATH OF A TORNADO? |
The length of the path is
usually 10 to 40 miles (the average length is 16 miles), but a tornado
may move forward for 300 miles.
The average width of the path
is about 400 yards, but some tornadoes have cut swaths over a mile in
width.
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| HOW
FAST DOES A TORNADO MOVE? |
The speed of travel of a
tornado averages 25 to 45 miles per hour, but has varied from 5 to 139
miles per hour.
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