· THE BASICS ABOUT TORNADOES. What is a tornado? According to the Glossary of Meteorology (AMS 2000), a tornado is "a violently rotating column of air. Lifting the Veil: The best ever investigative history of of what's really going on behind the scenes in our world with over 500 links to reliable sources to back up. Texas Watch is a non-partisan citizen advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that insurance companies and other corporations are accountable to their customers.

The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)Background photo courtesy NSSL. Last modified 1 May 2. This list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) has been compiled from. SPC as well as basic tornado research information. More material will be added. If you find a link not working or an error of any sort, please e- mail the FAQ author. Tornado FAQ is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to tornadoes.

Instead, it is a quick- reference summary of tornado knowledge. Recent books from your local library or a major university library. There are many good websites with tornado information, but also, many inaccurate and unreliable ones. As with any other subject, please proceed with great caution online when investigating tornadoes. Some of the trustworthy sites are linked from the answers below. None of the links to outside websites implies any kind of commercial.

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SPC. The intent here is to direct you to the best tornado info available, regardless of domain. There is also a partial list of technical scientific references related to tornadoes for. NOTE: All images found in FAQ pages on this site must be public domain and.

However, credit should be given to NOAA for use of images, unless labeled otherwise. What is a tornado? Glossary of Meteorology (AMS 2. Literally, in order for a vortex to. Weather scientists haven't found it so simple in practice. Doswell). For example, the difference is unclear between an strong mesocyclone (parent thunderstorm circulation) on the ground, and a large, weak tornado.

There is also disagreement as to whether separate ground contacts of the same funnel constitute separate tornadoes. Meteorologists also can disagree on precisely defining large, intense, messy multivortex circulations, such as the El Reno tornado of 2. It is well- known that a tornado may not have a visible funnel. Mobile radars also have showed that tornadoes often extend outside an existing, visible funnel. At what wind speed of the cloud- to- ground vortex does a tornado begin? Hero Of The Rails Full Movie on this page. How close must two or more different tornadic circulations become to qualify. There are no firm answers.

BACK UP TO THE TOP do tornadoes form? The classic answer- -"warm moist Gulf. Canadian air and dry air from the Rockies"- -is a gross oversimplification.

Most thunderstorms. SPC "High Risk" outlook. The truth is that we don't fully understand. Tornado formation is believed to be dictated mainly by things which happen on the storm scale, in and around the mesocyclone. Recent theories and results from the VORTEX programs suggest that once a mesocyclone is underway, tornado. Mathematical modeling studies of tornado formation also indicate that it can happen without such temperature patterns; and in fact, very little temperature variation was observed near some of the most destructive tornadoes in history on 3 May 1. The details behind these theories are given in several of the Scientific References.

FAQ. BACK UP TO THE TOP do tornadoes come from? Does the region of the US play a role in path direction? Tornadoes can appear from any direction. Most move from southwest to northeast, or west to east. Some tornadoes have changed direction amid path, or even backtracked. A tornado can double back suddenly, for example, when its bottom is hit by outflow winds from a thunderstorm's core.] Some areas of the US tend to have more paths from a specific direction, such as northwest in Minnesota or southeast in coastal south Texas.

This is because of an increased frequency of certain tornado- producing weather patterns (say, hurricanes in south Texas, or northwest- flow weather systems in the upper Midwest). BACK UP TO THE TOP hail always come before the tornado? Rain? ? Utter silence? Not necessarily, for any of those. Rain, wind, lightning, and hail characteristics vary from storm to storm, from one hour to the next, and even with the direction the storm is moving with respect to the observer.

While large hail can indicate the presence of an unusually dangerous thunderstorm, and can happen before a tornado, don't depend on it. Hail, or any particular pattern of rain, lightning or calmness, is not a reliable predictor of tornado threat. BACK UP TO THE TOP do tornadoes dissipate? The details are still debated by tornado scientists. We do know tornadoes need a source of instability (heat, moisture, etc.) and a larger- scale property of rotation (vorticity) to keep going.

There are a lot of processes around a thunderstorm which can possibly rob the area around a tornado of either instability or vorticity. One is relatively cold - -the flow of wind out of the precipitation area of a shower or thunderstorm. Many tornadoes have been observed to go away soon after being hit by outflow. For decades, storm observers have documented the death of numerous tornadoes when their parent circulations. BACK UP TO THE TOP. Not in a literal sense, despite what you may have read in many. By definition (above), a tornado must be in.

There is disagreement in meteorology over whether or not multiple ground contacts of the same vortex or funnel cloud mean different tornadoes (a strict interpretation). In either event, stories of skipping tornadoes usually mean. There was continuous contact between vortex and ground in the path, but it was too weak to do damage. Multiple tornadoes happened, but there was no survey done to precisely separate their paths (very common before the 1. There were multiple tornadoes with only short separation, but the survey erroneously classified them as one tornado. BACK UP TO THE TOP when two tornadoes come together? That is more unusual than it seems, because most video that seems to show tornadoes merging actually involves either one tornado, or one among multiple subvortices, going behind another.

On those very rare occasions when tornadoes do merge, it usually involves a larger and stronger tornado that simply draws in and absorbs the lesser circulation, then keeps on going. On 2. 4 May 2. 01. FAQ witnessed and photographed a merger of a long- lived, violent tornado with a satellite tornado that had grown about as large and strong, based on mobile Doppler- radar data. That rare and maybe unique event is documented in this formal journal paper. BACK UP TO THE TOPHow long does a tornado last?

Tornadoes can last from several seconds to more than an hour. The longest- lived tornado in history is really unknown, because so many of the long- lived tornadoes reported from the early- mid 1.

Most tornadoes last less than 1. The average distance tornadoes have traveled (based on path length data since 1.

BACK UP TO THE TOP. To oversimplify this a bit, a tornado (or any other atmospheric vortex) is the most efficient way to move air from one part of the atmosphere to another on its size and time scale. In fluid flow (whether gas or liquid), a vortex often forms when some kind of instability difference exists between one part of the fluid and another, and that difference is strong enough that the fluid needs to move quickly to restore more stable conditions again. This happens on many scales, from huge midlatitude cyclones to hurricanes, supercells, tornadoes and backyard whirlwinds- -even the vortex that forms above a bathtub drain. Most thunderstorms apparently do not need a vortex as intense and efficient at moving air as a tornado, to fulfill their own function of transporting a plume of initially unstable air from the lower atmosphere to higher levels.

Why some thunderstorms go far enough to require a tornado's assistance is a matter of great speculation and debate in meteorology. For those with a strong scientific background, Chuck Doswell offers some in- depth insights on possibilities for the role of tornadoes. BACK UP TO THE TOP to a tornado does ? And how far does it drop? A barometer can start dropping many hours or even days in advance of. Strong pressure falls will often happen as the mesocyclone. The biggest drop will be in the tornado itself, of course.

It is very hard to measure pressure in tornadoes since most weather.

Rise of robots taking jobs to be 'painful and enduring'As automation and artificial intelligence technologies improve, many people worry about the future of work. If millions of human workers no longer have jobs, the worriers ask, what will people do, how will they provide for themselves and their families, and what changes might occur (or be needed) in order for society to adjust? Many economists say there is no need to worry.

Scroll down for video A recent report from the International Labor Organization found that more than two- thirds of Southeast Asia's 9. They point to how past major transformations in work tasks and labor markets – specifically the Industrial Revolution during the 1. These economists say that when technology destroys jobs, people find other jobs. As one economist argued: WILL A ROBOT TAKE YOUR JOB? Will Robots Take My Job' is a machine learning tool that gathers data from a 2. Oxford University report entitled, 'The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization'. Users interested in learning the fate of their careers type in their occupation in the provided box and hit enter.

In seconds, the system provides a percent of how likely they are at being replaced by a machine, the automation risk level, projected growth, median annual wage and how many people are currently employed in the field. 'Since the dawn of the industrial age, a recurrent fear has been that technological change will spawn mass unemployment. Neoclassical economists predicted that this would not happen, because people would find other jobs, albeit possibly after a long period of painful adjustment. By and large, that prediction has proven to be correct.'They are definitely right about the long period of painful adjustment! The aftermath of the Industrial Revolution involved two major Communist revolutions, whose death toll approaches 1. The stabilizing influence of the modern social welfare state emerged only after World War II, nearly 2. Industrial Revolution. Today, as globalization and automation dramatically boost corporate productivity, many workers have seen their wages stagnate. The increasing power of automation and artificial intelligence technology means more pain may follow. Are these economists minimizing the historical record when projecting the future, essentially telling us not to worry because in a century or two things will get better? Reaching a tipping point.

To learn from the Industrial Revolution, we must put it in the proper historical context. The Industrial Revolution was a tipping point. For many thousands of years before it, economic growth was practically negligible, generally tracking with population growth: Farmers grew a bit more food and blacksmiths made a few more tools, but people from the early agrarian societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India would have recognized the world of 1. Europe. But when steam power and industrial machinery came along in the 1. The growth that happened in just a couple hundred years was on a vastly different scale than anything that had happened before. Upheaval more than a century into the Industrial Revolution, and more than 1.

An International Workers of the World union demonstration in New York City in 1. We may be at a similar tipping point now, referred to by some as the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution,' where all that has happened in the past may appear minor compared to the productivity and profitability potential of the future. Getting predictions wrong. It is easy to underestimate in advance the impact of globalization and automation – I have done it myself. In March 2. 00. 0, the NASDAQ Composite Index peaked and then crashed, wiping out US$8 trillion in market valuations over the next two years. At the same time, the global spread of the internet enabled offshore outsourcing of software production, leading to fears of information technology jobs disappearing en masse. The Association for Computing Machinery worried what these factors might mean for computer education and employment in the future. Its study group, which I co- chaired, reported in 2. Accountants, lawyers, truckers and even construction workers – whose jobs were largely unchanged by the first Industrial Revolution – are about to find their work changing substantially, if not entirely taken over by computers.

The last decade has vindicated that conclusion. Our report conceded, however, that 'trade gains may be distributed differentially,' meaning some individuals and regions would gain and others would lose. And it was focused narrowly on the information technology industry. Had we looked at the broader impact of globalization and automation on the economy, we might have seen the much bigger changes that even then were taking hold. Spreading to manufacturing. In both the first Industrial Revolution and today's, the first effects were in manufacturing in the developed world. By substituting technology for workers, U.

S. manufacturing productivity roughly doubled between 1. As a result, while U. S. manufacturing output today is essentially at an all- time high, employment peaked around 1.

Blue line: U. S. manufacturing output. Red line: Manufacturing employees. While U. S. manufacturing output today is essentially at an all- time high, employment peaked around 1. Unlike in the 1. 9th century, though, the effects of globalization and automation are spreading across the developing world. Economist Branko Milanovic's 'Elephant Curve' shows how people around the globe, ranked by their income in 1. Watch Chappie Putlocker.

While the income of the very poor was stagnant, rising incomes in emerging economies lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. People at the very top of the income scale also benefited from globalization and automation. But the income of working- and middle- class people in the developed world has stagnated. In the U.

S., income of production workers today, adjusted for inflation, is essentially at the level it was around 1. Pictured is a graph showing average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees since the 1. In the U. S., for example, income of production workers today, adjusted for inflation, is essentially at the level it was around 1. Now automation is also coming to developing- world economies. A recent report from the International Labor Organization found that more than two- thirds of Southeast Asia's 9.

Waking up to the problems. In addition to spreading across the world, automation and artificial intelligence are beginning to pervade entire economies. Accountants, lawyers, truckers and even construction workers – whose jobs were largely unchanged by the first Industrial Revolution – are about to find their work changing substantially, if not entirely taken over by computers. By substituting technology for workers, U.

S. manufacturing productivity roughly doubled between 1. As a result, while U. S. manufacturing output today is at an all- time high, employment peaked around 1. Until very recently, the global educated professional class didn't recognize what was happening to working- and middle- class people in developed countries. But now it is about to happen to them. The results will be startling, disruptive and potentially long- lasting. Political developments of the past year make it clear that the issue of shared prosperity cannot be ignored. It is now evident that the Brexit vote in the U. K. and the election of President Donald Trump in the U.

S. were driven to a major extent by economic grievances. Our current economy and society will transform in significant ways, with no simple fixes or adaptations to lessen their effects. It is now evident that the Brexit vote in the U. K. and the election of President Donald Trump in the U. S. were driven to a major extent by economic grievances.

Our economy and society will transform in significant ways, with no simple fixes or adaptations to lessen their effects.