When the rotating air of an updraft (shown in purple) collides with the revolving air of a downdraft (shown in aqua) that has turned upward, a tornado can emerge.
Tornadoes can only arise when a thunderstorm has a specific wind pattern.
When the air rising in thunderstorms is impacted by winds flowing in opposite directions, it might begin to spin. It rises and is pushed to one side by the wind. It rises a little higher before being jolted again by wind blowing in the opposite direction. The ascending air begins to spin due to winds travelling at various speeds and directions at various heights.
Supercells, the most powerful type of thunderstorm, have air that spins as it climbs, although not all spinning air produces tornadoes.
There must also be spinning air near the ground for a tornado to occur. This occurs when the storm's air sinks to the ground and spreads out in gusts across the countryside. Warmer air rises when the wind blows. As they blow across the land, gusts of cooler air settle.
The air near the ground begins to spin if there are enough rising and descending gusts.
As it is pulled inward nearer its axis of rotation, the spinning air near the earth accelerates up. This is similar to how figure skaters spin quicker when their arms are brought in rather than outstretched. This is known as angular momentum conservation.
The rising, rotating air can tilt the rotating air vertically, causing it to move horizontally across the land. As a result, a tornado can form.
Supercell thunderstorms produce the majority of tornadoes, however not all supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes. For a tornado to occur, the whirling air near the ground must rotate fast enough. If the rotating air near the ground is extremely cold, it will spread away from the storm and slow down like a figure skater with extended arms, preventing a tornado from forming.
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