Understanding Tornadoes and Blizzards

A powerful rotating column of air formed from a thunderstorm.

Areas in the US (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas) prone to tornadoes.

Warm, moist air meeting cool, dry air in a thunderstorm,creating a spinning motion.

Destructive winds causing damage to buildings and objects, endangering people and animals.

Intense winter storm with strong winds and heavy snowfall.

Winds exceeding 35 mph and low visibility due to snowfall.

Common in cold climates such as the northern US or Canada; also Russia and Scandinavia

Shelter in sturdy building's interior rooms or basements.

Preparing for a hurricane involves monitoring forecasts, having an emergency kit, and following evacuation orders.

Hurricanes are given names for communication and tracking; names are rotated regularly, with retired names for particularly damaging storms.

Ice storms form when raindrops freeze on cold surfaces creating dangerous ice layers.

Ice storms cause power outages, hazardous road conditions, and potential damage to buildings from ice weight.

During an ice storm, having warm clothes, blankets, flashlights and food is important, especially for power outages.

Avoid unnecessary travel during an ice storm; use caution if traveling, walk slowly on treated paths.

If you encounter a downed power line, do not touch it; report it to authorities immediately.

Ice storms can disrupt daily life by closing schools, businesses, and making it harder for emergency services to respond.

A natural disaster where water overflows its normal boundaries, affecting land and communities.

Heavy rainfall, melting snow, or hurricanes can cause flooding.

Flooding can damage homes, roads, and crops; risks include contaminated water and dangerous currents.

Staying safe during a flood involves listening to warnings, evacuating if told, elevating belongings, avoiding floodwaters, and having an emergency kit.

Floodwaters can carry debris and pollutants, creating health risks for humans and animals.

A large and intense fire that spreads quickly through vegetation, causing damage.

Ice accumulation can heavily stress trees and power lines, causing them to break and lead to power outages.

Ice storms sometimes cause trees or other structures to make a chiming noise, like wind chimes, which sounds eerie and enchanting.

A weather event where strong winds lift large amounts of dust and sand into the air, reducing visibility significantly.

Dust storms can cause visibility issues, respiratory problems, transportation disruptions, and damage to infrastructure.

Stay indoors, close windows and doors, avoid driving in low visibility, and stay informed about weather reports.

Powerful storms with lightning, strong winds, heavy rain, and sometimes hail.

Warm, moist air rises and meets cooler, dry air, creating instability and leading to the formation of towering clouds.

Severe thunderstorms pose hazards such as lightning strikes, strong winds, flash floods, and large hail.

Stay indoors during a thunderstorm, avoid contact with water and electrical appliances.

To form, severe thunderstorms require warm, moist air, a lifting mechanism, and instability in the atmosphere.

A combination of hot temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds create the perfect environment for wildfires to ignite and spread rapidly.

Wildfires can start due to various causes, including lightning strikes, human activities like campfires or discarded cigarettes, and naturally occurring dry conditions.

Wildfires can have devastating consequences, destroying homes, habitats, and natural resources. They also release harmful smoke that affects air quality.

Dust storms occur when strong winds blow across dry, loose soil in arid regions, lifting immense amounts of dust into the air.

Dust storms need dry soil, strong winds (often associated with thunderstorms) to lift and carry the dust, creating a swirling wall of dust.

Dust storms can travel long distances, reducing visibility significantly and covering everything in a fine layer of dust.

Some plants have evolved to survive wildfires, like pinecones that release seeds only when exposed to heat.

Wildfires can create intense swirling columns of fire, known as fire whirls, that can throw debris and flames into the air.

Thunderstorms are powered by warm air rising from the Earth's surface, creating storm clouds.

Lightning in thunderstorms can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, around 30,000 degrees Celsius.

Hail forms when strong updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops high into the cold atmosphere, freezing them into ice that grows larger as it's repeatedly lifted and dropped.

Hailstones can vary in size from small pellets to larger chunks, like golf balls, or even bigger.

Hailstorms can damage roofs, windows, cars, and crops. People outside are at risk of injury from falling hailstones.

Seek shelter indoors during a hail storm to avoid the potential hazards of hail, lightning, strong winds, and heavy rain.

The biggest hailstone ever recorded was 8 inches in diameter and weighed almost 2 pounds.

Hailstorms need strong updrafts, cold temperatures at high altitudes, and powerful updrafts to keep the hailstones moving up and down in the storm cloud.