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ASK THE METEOROLOGIST
“Does it have to be a certain degree, super warm or super cold or in between, for a tornado to go a certain distance?”
Sofie, Mae Richardson
There is no correlation between contrasting air masses and the duration or direction of a tornado. In other words, the temperatures/clashing of air masses do not tell us what direction a tornado will travel or how long/short it will be.
A warm and cold air mass meeting though in the middle of our country can be a sign that severe weather is a possibility that day. By severe weather I mean thunderstorms and tornadoes — tornadoes cannot form without thunderstorms being present. If the right ingredients are in place (warm and cold air, a lifting mechanism such as a cold front and a lot of moisture) severe thunderstorms could develop, which could then lead to tornadoes.
If the atmosphere is unstable enough, meaning there is a lot of rising air, then we sometimes can have a better handle of how likely tornadoes are for that particular day. Forecasting where a tornado would develop is not possible though. Meteorologists are only able to look at a particular part of the country and say thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes could develop here later today.
The main point to be made is that there is still a lot we don’t quite understand with tornadoes. We don’t know always know why they travel in a certain direction or why some of them are long and some short. However, we do know that most tornadoes travel from SW to NE and that most tend to last less than 10 minutes. BUT (I know there’s always a but) …tornadoes can develop any time of the year across ANY part of our country. Although tornadoes aren’t likely here in the Northwest, they are possible and we have seen them.
If you’d like to submit a weather question you can do it on our website here or you can submit your weather video (of you asking your question!!) to weather@kdrv.com.
Meteorologist Alyssa Caroprese
