ATMO 1010
Weather in the Movies
Since the time, I was little storms have scared me. Whether it be lightning and thunder, or a giant gust of loud wind, I would want to hide. As I have gotten older, the storms that used to once frighten me, now intrigue me. I love watching storms! I chose to write about The Wizard of Oz. I find this movie incredibly interesting for the mere fact that the story can only continue through the magic of a twister.
Living back in Virginia I found myself trapped inside a couple of times due to tornado warnings, which sparked my interest on the science of a tornado. Tornadoes are the most powerful, unpredictable and destructive weather systems on earth, according to livescience.com. As I was saying I’ve seen some of the destruction caused by tornadoes and those were little babies compared to the monsters that can occur.
The definition of tornado according to, the text Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm cloud directly to the ground (Rauber, Walsh, Charlevoix., 2012). Tornadoes are also known as twisters, but the definition remains the same, the column of air that sprouts from the thunderstorm must touch directly to the ground to classified as a tornado or twister.
The most destructive tornadoes are formed from supercell thunderstorms. Just like baking a cake you need the right ingredients for a tornado to occur. We can learn these ingredients by reading the “recipe” or article “How Tornadoes Form and Why They’re So Unpredictable” written by Brian Clark Howard. The article states that the ingredients include warm moisture near the surface and relatively cold, dry air above. The article also gives a brief step by step formation of a tornado; step one in tornado formation is wind shear, this is fast moving winds rolling air below into a horizontal vortex. Step two, updraft, warm air near the ground begins to lift a part of the horizontal vortex into a vertical position. Step three, the storm. Step four, the supercell, where upper-level winds tilt the rotating updraft, called a mesocyclone. This allows the storm to keep growing, as the warm air is sucked into the storm away from the cool downdraft.
Tornadoes come in all different shapes, sizes, and strengths. Tornadoes are measured using the Fujita Scale. This ranking goes from an F0 through an F5, F5 being the strongest and causing the most damage. Just as tornadoes differ in shape and size, they also differ in duration and distance traveled. In most cases, they last about ten minutes and travel anywhere from three to six miles. This completely backs up the statement stating, “Tornadoes are the most powerful and destructive weather systems.” To be able to cause such an extreme amount of damage in such a little time is incredible, and shows just how powerful these storms can get. While most tornadoes last about ten minutes there have been reports of tornadoes lasting several hours and traveling around 93 miles.
According to facts from National Geographic for kids, the deadliest tornado ever recorded was in Bangladesh in 1989.While this was the most deadly tornado recorded, most tornadoes occur in the United States, in what’s called Tornado Alley. This area stretches from North Dakota to Texas. Tornado Alley can see more than two hundred tornadoes each year.
Now that we know a little bit about the science behind real tornadoes let’s talk about the magic of this wickedly cool man-made tornado. The Wizard of Oz depends on a tornado so the heroin Dorothy can travel to Oz. Luckily, Dorothy’s home is located in this dangerous area, known as Tornado Alley. As I stated before a tornado is key to moving the storyline along. Without the tornado, Dorothy, could never have made it to Oz. I felt the movie portrayed a tornado very well other than, the wicked witch riding her bike in the funnel, and of course tornadoes are not a magical portal to another realm. This film was made in 1939, so they didn’t have access to the amazing special affects we have available to us. To create the twister, they used a thirty-five-foot muslin stocking wrapped around chicken wire. It was fastened to a car and then moved along the stage. Everything such as the farmhouse was built miniature and for the finishing touch they added wind machines and dust. If only the science behind real tornadoes were that easy!
References
Howard, B. C. (2015, May 11). How Tornadoes Form and Why They're So Unpredictable. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150511-tornadoes-storms-midwest-weather-science/
Rauber, R. M., Walsh, J. E., & Charlevoix, D. J. (2012). Severe & hazardous weather: An introduction to high impact meteorology (4th ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub.
Society, N. G. (n.d.). Tornado Facts! Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.ngkids.co.uk/science-and-nature/tornado-facts
Star, J. A. (2014, August 15). Special effects in 'Wizard of Oz' took real magic. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article1236642.html
Tornadoes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/topics/tornadoes
Since the time, I was little storms have scared me. Whether it be lightning and thunder, or a giant gust of loud wind, I would want to hide. As I have gotten older, the storms that used to once frighten me, now intrigue me. I love watching storms! I chose to write about The Wizard of Oz. I find this movie incredibly interesting for the mere fact that the story can only continue through the magic of a twister.
Living back in Virginia I found myself trapped inside a couple of times due to tornado warnings, which sparked my interest on the science of a tornado. Tornadoes are the most powerful, unpredictable and destructive weather systems on earth, according to livescience.com. As I was saying I’ve seen some of the destruction caused by tornadoes and those were little babies compared to the monsters that can occur.
The definition of tornado according to, the text Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm cloud directly to the ground (Rauber, Walsh, Charlevoix., 2012). Tornadoes are also known as twisters, but the definition remains the same, the column of air that sprouts from the thunderstorm must touch directly to the ground to classified as a tornado or twister.
The most destructive tornadoes are formed from supercell thunderstorms. Just like baking a cake you need the right ingredients for a tornado to occur. We can learn these ingredients by reading the “recipe” or article “How Tornadoes Form and Why They’re So Unpredictable” written by Brian Clark Howard. The article states that the ingredients include warm moisture near the surface and relatively cold, dry air above. The article also gives a brief step by step formation of a tornado; step one in tornado formation is wind shear, this is fast moving winds rolling air below into a horizontal vortex. Step two, updraft, warm air near the ground begins to lift a part of the horizontal vortex into a vertical position. Step three, the storm. Step four, the supercell, where upper-level winds tilt the rotating updraft, called a mesocyclone. This allows the storm to keep growing, as the warm air is sucked into the storm away from the cool downdraft.
Tornadoes come in all different shapes, sizes, and strengths. Tornadoes are measured using the Fujita Scale. This ranking goes from an F0 through an F5, F5 being the strongest and causing the most damage. Just as tornadoes differ in shape and size, they also differ in duration and distance traveled. In most cases, they last about ten minutes and travel anywhere from three to six miles. This completely backs up the statement stating, “Tornadoes are the most powerful and destructive weather systems.” To be able to cause such an extreme amount of damage in such a little time is incredible, and shows just how powerful these storms can get. While most tornadoes last about ten minutes there have been reports of tornadoes lasting several hours and traveling around 93 miles.
According to facts from National Geographic for kids, the deadliest tornado ever recorded was in Bangladesh in 1989.While this was the most deadly tornado recorded, most tornadoes occur in the United States, in what’s called Tornado Alley. This area stretches from North Dakota to Texas. Tornado Alley can see more than two hundred tornadoes each year.
Now that we know a little bit about the science behind real tornadoes let’s talk about the magic of this wickedly cool man-made tornado. The Wizard of Oz depends on a tornado so the heroin Dorothy can travel to Oz. Luckily, Dorothy’s home is located in this dangerous area, known as Tornado Alley. As I stated before a tornado is key to moving the storyline along. Without the tornado, Dorothy, could never have made it to Oz. I felt the movie portrayed a tornado very well other than, the wicked witch riding her bike in the funnel, and of course tornadoes are not a magical portal to another realm. This film was made in 1939, so they didn’t have access to the amazing special affects we have available to us. To create the twister, they used a thirty-five-foot muslin stocking wrapped around chicken wire. It was fastened to a car and then moved along the stage. Everything such as the farmhouse was built miniature and for the finishing touch they added wind machines and dust. If only the science behind real tornadoes were that easy!
References
Howard, B. C. (2015, May 11). How Tornadoes Form and Why They're So Unpredictable. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150511-tornadoes-storms-midwest-weather-science/
Rauber, R. M., Walsh, J. E., & Charlevoix, D. J. (2012). Severe & hazardous weather: An introduction to high impact meteorology (4th ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub.
Society, N. G. (n.d.). Tornado Facts! Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.ngkids.co.uk/science-and-nature/tornado-facts
Star, J. A. (2014, August 15). Special effects in 'Wizard of Oz' took real magic. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article1236642.html
Tornadoes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/topics/tornadoes