Tornadoes

It all started in 2023 with this video:

I was going through a Salem phase and discovering their 2020 album Fires in Heaven for the first time. I kind of randomly stumbled upon the music video for Starfall and was convinced the footage was CGI. It was the beginning of tornado season at the time and it hadn't occurred to me that you could just go up to them and watch as they ate and ate and ate. I don't live in those parts of the world. The thought that to some people such spectacles were a thing of habit fascinated me.

I dug through the Keraunos website, which is the observatory for severe weather in my country. My first discovery was the Enhanced Fujita Scale. I looked up all the 71 (at the time) EF5 tornadoes. I tried picturing the scar they leave on familiar landscapes, I dreamt of them constantly.

VOCABULARY:

  • Tornado : A violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a thunderstorm.
  • Supercell : A system producing severe thunderstorms, featuring rotating winds sustained by a prolonged updraft that may result in hail or tornadoes.
  • EF scale : The rating system for how strong a tornado was. Calculated using damage assessment.

    • EF0 = winds of 105 to 137kmph. Light damage (snapped branches, roof tiles removed).

    EF0

    EF1 = winds of 138 to 178kmph. Moderate damage (roofs stripped, mobile homes flipped or destroyed, windows broken).

    EF1

    EF2 = winds of 179 to 218kmph. Considerable damage (light-build homes moved from foundations, large trees lifted from the ground, cars moved).

    EF2

    EF3 = winds of 219 to 266kmph. Severe damage (entire floors destroyed, important damage to commercial buildings, trees debarked, lighter buildings pulverized).

    EF3

    EF4 = winds of 267 to 322kmph. Devastating damage (well-built homes completely blown away, heavy objects like cars become projectiles).

    EF4

    EF5 = winds of more than 322kmph. Unbelievable damage (Slabs of houses dislodged, ground scoured up to 50cm deep, cars warped around trees).

    EF5

    DANGER SIGNS:

  • A dark, blueish or greenish sky
  • Large hail (can get as big as 18cm in diameter!!!)
  • A large, low-flying cloud, especially if rotating
  • A change in atmospheric pressure (ears popping, etc)
  • A loud, train-like roar
  • Sudden wind shifts (in directon, or strong gusts followed by dead silence)