Summary
By far the most potent storm known on Earth, the tornado has an average life span of no more than half an hour. Yet, during that time, it expends about as much energy as is used to light the streets of New York City for one night. From 2000 through 2002, there was a yearly average of 22 killer tornadoes in the U.S. For middle school and high school students, teachers, and general readers, this volume in Facts On File’s updated and expanded Dangerous Weather set is a fascinating examination of a weather phenomenon that affects many areas throughout the world.
Tornadoes, Revised Edition is organized and written in an easy-to-follow style. Author Michael Allaby answers the most important questions students and non-specialists have about tornadoes, and provides a general overview of the current information that shapes the way tornadoes are understood and studied. Featured coverage includes a definition of tornado; discussion about what happens when warm and cold air collide and how wind changes with height; explanations of jet streams, squall lines, thunderstorms, supercells, vortices and angular momentum, dust devils, and waterspouts; examinations of how a tornado begins, what happens inside a tornado, how a tornado travels, and how a tornado dies; and a look at when and where tornadoes happen (Tornado Alley,
tornadoes in Europe, and tornadoes of the past).