Oklahoma Tornadoes and Their Destructive Ways What makes tornadoes and their destruction interesting to people? Is it the variety of formations, the miles they can travel, the random paths they follow, the changes tornadoes can make to weather and landforms, or is it because tornadoes often leave a path of destruction and death in their wake? In this article, I will discuss what tornadoes are and how they form, what different forms of tornadoes exist, what tornado watches and warnings are, and I will provide examples of tornadoes in Oklahoma and what destruction they have caused, while also providing information about Doppler radar. The questions often asked is; What are tornadoes and how do they form? Tornadoes are “violent windstorms that take the form of a rotating column of air or vortex extending downward from a cumulonimbus cloud” as Tarbuck and Lutgens (2012) explain. Tornadoes form from wind shears. Wind ripples form from warm air at ground level; when raised, the updraft encounters a downward current of cooler air that is moved in the opposite direction of the warm air. When both are pushed towards Earth, wind shear is created. A rotating tube of air, created by wind shear; it tilts upward in a vertical position, as the updraft draws moisture from the ground and into the sky. As the hot air cools high in the sky; this produces condensation. The condensation then produces thunderclouds, which rise to over 30,000 feet. The rotating formations of air are then trapped and lifted into the storm cloud. This begins as a swirling motion and as it continues (if the winds remain viable), a supercell will form. Mesocyclones, as they are known, are a rotating cloud. If these rotating clouds encountered moist air, they would spit...... middle of paper ......ieved from http://onlineathens.com/national-news/2012-04-16/could-better - tornado-warnings-due-complacencyNational Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (2009). Using and understanding Doppler weather radar. Retrieved from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=using-radarNational Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=tornadodata-countyRebman, R. C. (2011). How do tornadoes form? New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Adverse weather and watches. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/watchvswarn.htmlTORNADOES. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/preparedness/tornado_large/fslide1.phpTornado reduces Oklahoma town to rubble. (2014). The History Channel website. Retrieved 2:40, April 8, 2014, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tornado-reduces-oklahoma-town-to-rubble