Safety
What are the safety precautions to surviving a tornado?
1. Go to the lowest floor
2. Get in a bathtub if there is one
3. Cover yourself and others with mattress
What do most tornadoes form/stem from?
Supercell
What is the name of the radar used in meteorology?
NEXRAD or WSR-88D or Doppler Radar
What are all the ranks a tornado can be given?
EFU / EF0 / EF1 / EF2 / EF3 / EF4 / EF5
What are the three types of radars chasers use?
1. Reflectivity
2. Velocity
3. Particle
What do you do when you get a tornado watch alert?
What is the difference between a mesocyclone and a rotating updraft?
Nothing! They both are essentially the same phenomenon.
What is the agency that controls the radars?
NOAA
What does the EF stand for/mean
Enhanced Fujita Scale
What is a hook echo?
A hook echo is where a tornado would usually form in a supercell.
Why don't you get into a vehicle when a tornado is coming your way?
1. Traffic
2. Homes are safer
3. Tornadoes are strong and can limit car speeds
(how a veteran storm chasing team lost their lives)
Why are supercells named "supercells"?
The supercell is named the supercell because of its lasting lifespan, hence the "super" is supercell.
What makes a thunderstorm severe?
1. Wind gusts > 93 km/h (58 mph)
2. Hail larger than 2.5 cm (1 in)
3. A tornado
What is the most common and rare tornado type
Common: Rope or Cone or Stovepipe
Rare: Wedge or Multi-vortex
What is a bow echo?
Why do the steps of tornado safety precautions work/help. (answer at least respond correctly to 3/4 of answer to win)
1. Bathtub provides protection against debris
2. Mattress provides protection against debris
3. Lower floors like basements have a foundation as a roof so your home collapsing won't hurt you OR it is harder for winds to reach you
What does CAPE stand for?
Convective Available Potential Energy!
What are the main colours used in reflectivity and velocity radar and what do they mean?
Reflectivity: Red, orange, yellow, green, white, purple (grey and pink are optional) Colours mean different levels of precipitation.
Velocity: Red, green, purple (white/beige optional) Red being on the right, green being on the left of the radar's perspective. Purple is unknown
What is a satellite tornado?
A tornado that orbits around another host tornado, hence the name.
How does each radar work?
Reflectivity - Sends out beam, more reflected back, more precipitation
Velocity - Sends out beam, calculates the direction and speed precipitation is moving
Particle - Sends out beam, similar to reflectivity, but checks for correlation coefficient.