I chose to research about the Tri-State Tornado. I chose this because it sounded very interesting and I wanted to know more. This event stuck out to me because of how much land was covered with this tornado.
Tornados occur when warm moist air meets cool dry air. Most also start with a thunderstorm which acts as a trigger. With a change in wind direction and speed, the air starts to do a spinning effect which continues to grow in diameter and circumference. About 1,200 tornados hit the United States every year. In the southern states, most of these occur from May to early June. In northern states, most happen during the summer. In addition, Tornado Alley is an area in central United States where many tornadoes occur at.
Tornadoes typically affect about 1 to 2 miles with a width of around 50 yards. The size varies depending on the condition and wind. Because tornados are so unpredictable the average warning time before a tornado hits is 13 minutes.
The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 was one of the deadliest tornados in U.S. History. This tornado injured more than 2,000 people and killed 695. This tornado occurred on March 18, 1925, at approximately 1:00 PM. It started in Ellington, Missouri, and moved northeast through Illinois ending in Indiana. This tornado lasted three and a half hours and traveled 219 miles. This set a new world record for duration and distance. With its 300 mile per hour winds, the tornado was classified as an F5. This record tornado caused $17 million in property damage.
An abiotic factor that was affected was the air. The wind is what causes most of the damage because of its insane speeds. In addition, all the homes that were affected were also abiotic factors in the community. Most in the path of the tornado was destroyed to the ground. Many people loss their homes due to the tornado.
As for biotic factors, many people were injured and killed due to this record-breaking tornado. Peoples’ roofs collapse and crush them beneath. Many trees and plants were uprooted and thrown into the air becoming a deadly projectile. Birds and get picked up by the strong winds and can be killed.
Many people were unprepared for this tornado due to how sudden it appeared. Most tornados are sudden and are just a matter of time when all the conditions are right. In addition, nobody knew that it was going to be this big and deadly because this was one of the biggest tornados recorded in the United States.
This type of event is likely to occur again because tornados are so common especially in tornado alley. Tornado alley is an area in central United States where many tornadoes occur. Tornadoes can happen anywhere on the globe and are more common than you think. Some only go as far as 10 yards. Most will never be this deadly but can cause some damage to plants, property, and the community.
A Meteorologist can use Doppler radars to predict tornadoes. These people are trained to recognize distinct features in storms that can lead to a tornado. The Doppler radar was created by a man named Christian Doppler in 1842. The doppler radar works by sending out a signal and reads it when it bounces back. This can help track the movement, shape, and position of an object. It can find the velocity of an object by measuring the change in position between 2 signals.
