Some tornadoes make a considerable amount of noise while others make very little. It depends on the objects a tornado might hit or carry. A tornado moving along an open plain may make very little noise.
The rapid rotation of winds in a tornado also sometimes make a high pitch whistling or whirling noise.
The sound made by a tornado is most commonly described as ``like a freight train''. That's quite loud. You probably won't be able to hear the people with you at the time.
There is mounting evidence, including Doppler on Wheels mobile radar images and eyewitness accounts, that most tornadoes have a clear, calm center with extremely low pressure, akin to the eye of tropical cyclones.
Roaring Sound
The crashing of debris that inevitably occurs with tornados can create a lot of noise as well. If you hear any of these unusual noises during severe weather, especially if there's a tornado watch or warning in effect, you should seek shelter immediately.
Get in the basement and under some kind of sturdy protection (heavy table or work bench), or cover yourself with a mattress or sleeping bag. Know where very heavy objects rest on the floor above (pianos, refrigerators, waterbeds, etc.) and do not go under them. They may fall down through a weakened floor and crush you.
As far as we can tell, there are only two people on record that claim to have been in the center of a tornado and lived. Not surprisingly, both of them were farmers. The first man was Will Keller, from Greensburg, Kan.
Traditionally, Tornado Alley is considered as running roughly north from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska to South Dakota, and often including neighboring states to the east and west.
And then actually even the smell of tornadoes—if you're in the right place, you get a strong odor of fresh-cut grass, or occasionally, if it's destroyed a house, natural gas. Sometimes you get that raw earth smell, similar to if you run a bulldozer over open land.
Nevertheless, ground time can range from an instant to several hours, although the typical time is around 5 to perhaps 10 minutes. Supercell tornadoes tend to be longer-lived, while those pawned by squall lines and bow echoes may only last for a few minutes.
The most "extreme" tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State tornado, which spread through parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It is considered an F5 on the Fujita Scale, holds records for longest path length at 219 miles (352 km) and longest duration at about 31⁄2 hours.
Key Takeaways. The "calm before the storm" can occur under certain conditions, but it's not a guarantee for every storm. This calm happens when warm, moist air that fuels the storm is pulled in, creating a low-pressure area and stabilizing the surrounding air with warm, dry air that descends from the storm.
The biggest weakness to the formation of a tornado is the lack of the upper jet stream. You can have all the weather conditions on the surface that would make for perfect tornado generating storms, but if there isn't upper level winds, then no tornado will be formed.
Texas leads the nation in the number of tornadoes that occur each year on average, followed by Kansas. Texas leads the nation for the average number each year only because of its size.
Is it possible to tame a tornado? Short answer: No.
Every hurricane has an island of calm and stillness: the eye. Not many of us will ever experience it in our lives, but for U.S. Air Force Captain Garrett Black, it is part of his job. Our author Arabelle Liepold spoke with him about experiencing the calm center of chaos, literally.
While the core of Tornado Alley includes northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, some definitions extend its boundaries to encompass parts of South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio.
So, while it's not a foolproof plan — remember that bathtubs aren't inherently heavy enough to stand firm no matter what — sheltering yourself in the tub is a good idea if your bathroom is windowless and located in your home's interior.
Sirens are intended to be heard ONLY by people who are outside. They are NOT designed to be heard inside your home or vehicle. They are not designed to be able to wake you up. It's important to not rely so much on sirens.
Being underground in a basement is certainly preferable in all situations. You'll need to be underground to survive an EF5 tornado, as that will completely remove a house from its foundation and can even strip concrete and grass from the ground.
The actual sound of a tornado will depend on its size, intensity and how close you are to the twister.
A sound a little like a waterfall or rushing air at first, then turning into a roar as it comes closer. If you see a tornado and it is not moving to the right or to the left relative to trees or power poles, it may be moving towards you.
Tail clouds are a type of cloud that sometimes sprouts from wall clouds. They're caused by air flowing into the wall cloud, and they're easy to mistake for a small funnel cloud. If you watch a tail cloud closely, however, you'll notice that it has no rotation.