TWISTER
Name:________________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: _________
Essential Question: How do I use weather forecast to develop and execute safety plans?
Questions to be answered during the video:
1. In 1969, where did the family receive a tornado warning?
________________________________________________________________
2. Where did the family go for safety during the storm?
________________________________________________________________
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3. What is the name of a satellite used for present day weather observations?
________________________________________________________________
4. The NSSL is the National _______________ Storm Laboratory.
5. What is Dorothy?
________________________________________________________________
6. How many minutes is the current advance warning for a tornado?
________________________________________________________________
7. DOT 3 has hundreds of sensors to transmit wind _________________,
______________, and dew point temperature.
8. Outside the coffee shop, what color is the sky turning?
________________________________________________________________
9. Where do Jo and Bill hide to avoid the tornado?
________________________________________________________________
10. Near the next tornado, what is moving horizontally?
________________________________________________________________
11. What is the color difference of the tornado over the water compared to the
tornadoes over the land?
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12. What property of a tornado is measured by the Fujita scale?
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13. What is the ground speed of the tornado being chased?
________________________________________________________________
14. How wide is the tornado?
________________________________________________________________
15. What form of precipitation do Jo and Bill encounter as they approach the tornado
hidden behind the hill?
________________________________________________________________
16. What happens to the television reception of the TVs near the drive-in?
________________________________________________________________
17. What are the storm chasers trying to do as they hide in the garage from the
tornado? (where are they trying to be?)
________________________________________________________________
18. After Aunt Meg is rescued, what is the Fujita intensity of the tornado identified by
the NSSL?
________________________________________________________________
19. What is added to Dorothy's sensors to make them fly better?
________________________________________________________________
20. What do you think caused the numerous small dents in the pickup truck?
________________________________________________________________
21. What do Jo and Bill use to weigh down the sensor pack so it can enter the
tornado?
________________________________________________________________
22. When Jo and Bill are inside the tornado, what do they see above the tornado?
________________________________________________________________
23. What must be done to the data collected from the tornado?
________________________________________________________________
24. Looking carefully at the end of the film, how can you tell where a tornado has
been?
________________________________________________________________
25. List 3 safety precautions for thunderstorm and lightning. p. 336 (10 pts.)
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
26. List 3 safety precautions for tornado. P.340 (10 pts.)
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Write the letters of your answers on the blanks before each number.
____1. Most tornadoes form from ________________.
A: thunderstorms
B: hurricanes C: cyclones
____2. Where do tornadoes mostly form in the United States?
A: southwest B: northeast
C: midwest
____3. This is a sign that a tornado could be coming.
A: greenish sky
B: large hail
C: wall cloud
D: all of the above
____4. True or False? All tornadoes are the same.
A: True B: False
____5. What is a tornado called that forms over warm water?
A:waterspout
B: water tornado
C: waterstorm
____6. Tornadoes occur least often in this month.
A: May
B: January
C: June
____7. A tornado _________ is when a tornado was been sighted. Take shelter immediately!
A: watch
B: warning
____8. What measures the intensity of a tornado?
A: Tornado Scale
B: Fujita Scale C: Intense Scale
D: none of the above
____9. Which part of the day do tornadoes usually occur?
A: early morning
B: mid morning
C: mid afternoon
D: midnight
____10. This is a rotating cone-shaped column of air that goes downward from the base of a
thunderstorm.
A: funnel cloud
B: cumulus cloud
C: stratus cloud
D: cirrus cloud
http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/weather/tornadoes/quiz3933.html http://www.drscavanaugh.org/workshops/scitech/scifi/twist2.htm
Tornadoes 101
What is a tornado?
A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground.
Where do tornadoes come from?
Tornadoes come from thunderstorms.
Where do tornadoes occur?
Tornadoes can occur whenever and wherever conditions are right! Tornadoes can occur in every state in the United
States, on any day of the year, and at any hour. They also occur in many other parts of the world, including Australia,
Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.
Where is Tornado Alley?
Tornado Alley is a nickname for an area that has more tornadoes than other parts of the U.S. The area that has the
most strong and violent tornadoes includes eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas,
and eastern Colorado.
How much advance warning can forecasters give us before a tornado strikes?
The current average lead-time for tornado warnings is 13
tornado warning lead-times much further.
minutes. NOAA Research is working to increase
What is the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning?
A Tornado Watch means tornadoes are possible in your area. Remain alert for approaching storms. The NOAA
Storm Prediction Center issues tornado and severe thunderstorm watches.
A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar – time to take cover! Your
local National Weather Service office issues tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
How many people are killed by tornadoes each year?
Tornadoes kill about 60 people each year, mostly from flying or falling debris.
How many tornadoes hit the US each year?
About 1,200.
What is the EF-Scale?
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates tornadoes by the damage they cause. Tornado categories are from EF0 to EF5.
The EF-Scale takes into account variables such as building type, structures, and the sizes of trees.
Tornado Safety
What you need to know NOW!
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards or commercial radio/television for tornado warnings and instructions. If
you hear a "Tornado Warning" seek safety immediately.
Indoors:
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Abandon mobile homes — they are not safe even when tied down. Go to a designated shelter
Go to a basement or interior room on the lowest floor (bathroom or closet without windows, under stairs).
Get under a sturdy piece of furniture.
Cover yourself with a mattress or blanket
Put on sturdy shoes
Put infants in car seats (indoors!)
If you have time, gather prescription medications, wallet and keys.
DO NOT open your windows!
In a vehicle:
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Leave the vehicle for sturdy shelter or drive out of the tornado’s path
DO NOT hide under overpasses — they provide no shelter
Lie flat in a ditch (last-resort).
Outdoors:
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Find a culvert or cave.
Find something to hang onto.
Lie flat in a ditch.
Cover your head.
See our severe weather safety page for more information!
What is known?
The most destructive and deadly tornadoes occur from supercells — which are rotating thunderstorms with a welldefined radar circulation called a mesocyclone.
What don’t we know?
NOAA scientists at the National Severe Storms Laboratory are working to understand the origins of tornadoes in
thunderstorms. This knowledge will help the NWS improve warnings for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
Does NSSL do things like they showed in the movie Twister?
The movie Twister was based upon NSSL’s work in the mid-1980s using a 55-gallon drum equipped with weather
sensors. It was called TOTO (TOtable Tornado Observatory). NSSL tried for several years to put it in the path of an
oncoming tornado, but had minimal success. It did not have the sensors that fly up into the tornado, like in the movie.
To learn more:
The Severe Weather Primer, FAQ’s and more:
The Storm Prediction Center's Tornado FAQ
NOAA Watch Severe Weather
http://www.noaa.gov/features/protecting/tornados101.html