Back to basics: The tornado, Nature's most violent wind: Part 2 — Formation and current research

Abstract

This second article in the series continues our discussion of tornadoes. Part 1 (Snow and Wyatt 1997) characterised tornadoes, provided information about structure and wind speed, and argued that they are truly an international phenomenon. This part focuses on what is known (and not known) about how tornadoes form, and closes with a brief discussion of current research activity. For the last 50 years, meteorologists have been exploring tornadoes, aiming for a better understanding of how nature produces these swirling columns and how their high-speed winds interact with the built environment an extensive discussion of current understanding can be found in Church et al. (1993). The goals of this research, as well as increasing knowledge about an intriguing phenomenon, are to develop more effective monitoring and warning techniques, and to establish design criteria and safety procedures to ensure the survival of those unfortunate enough to have a ‘close encounter’ with a tornado.