Hunt for the Supertwister

Student Handout

Spotting Tornadoes

Tornadoes can be violent, destructive, and difficult to predict, making them one of the most feared forms of extreme weather. An official from the National Weather Service needs your help to find the most likely place that significant (rated F2 or higher) tornadoes will form this year. Use all the resources you have been given and answer the questions below.

Procedure

1. Use print and Internet resources to research answers to the first two questions below.

2. Create a report that summarizes what you have learned. Decide how you want to present your report, whether as a poster, a mockup of a newspaper, a multimedia presentation, or a play. Be clear and concise when you are explaining the weather concepts involved in tornado formation. Create tables, graphs, and/or illustrations to convey information in your report.

3. Use the maps on your "Where the Tornadoes Are" handout to answer Question #3.

Questions
Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. The Warning and Coordination Meteorologist for your area first wants to make sure that you know enough about tornadoes to qualify to work as a spotter. Include the answers to these questions in your report:

   • What conditions do meteorologists look for when trying to identify the possibility of a tornado forming?

   • How do tornadoes form?

   • What methods do scientists use to track tornadoes?

   • In what areas of the United States do tornadoes occur with the greatest frequency?

2. Your safety is the meteorologist's main concern. To make sure you will be safe while you are out chasing tornadoes, answer the following questions:

   • What precautions should you take it you are a mobile spotter tracking a storm with your car?

   • What safety measures should you take if you are providing spotting information from a fixed position, like your home or school?

3. The meteorologist wants recommendations for when and where to place her spotters this year. Use the maps she has given you from the National Severe Storms Laboratory on your other handout to answer her questions:

   • What time of year and in what areas would a spotter be most likely to see a tornado?

   • What U.S. regions would you recommend against placing spotters?

   • What, if any, pattern do you notice regarding the peak months for tornadoes throughout the United States?

   • Hawaii and Alaska are not on the data charts you have been given. But the meteorologist wants to know whether to position spotters in either of these states. Based on what you have learned about how tornadoes form, would you recommend placing spotters in either of those states? Defend your reasoning.