Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado Record Wind Speeds
The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado originated in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma on May 3, 1999 during a massive outbreak involving over 70 tornadoes, achieving directly measured record wind speeds.
Enhanced Fujita Scale and Tornado Rating
Meteorologists and damage assessment experts examine post-tornado destruction to assign Enhanced Fujita Scale ratings from EF0 to EF5, providing the primary method for classifying tornado intensity.
Mesocyclone and Vortex Stretching
Mesocyclones are rotating columns of air within supercells that undergo vortex stretching near the ground, accelerating circulation to create funnel clouds and eventual tornadoes.
Tornado Alley Geography and US Tornado Dominance
The United States experiences over 1,000 reported tornadoes annually, exceeding the combined yearly average of every other country worldwide and regularly producing violent tornadoes causing the highest death percentages.
VORTEX Research Project and Tornado Formation Studies
NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory launched the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX) in 1995, with VORTEX-2 in 2009 deploying over 100 scientists using cutting-edge equipment across Tornado Alley.
Wind Shear and Supercell Formation
Supercells are storms with persistent rotating updrafts at their cores, forming as the parent systems for most tornadoes through specific atmospheric wind conditions.