Hurricanes VS Tornadoes

Written By Rachel R

Hurricanes VS Tornadoes

The battle begins...

Grrrrrrrrr...

By Rachel G. Roe

(Sorry if jokes are in any way offensive, sad or mean, really)

Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Q. What's a tornado's favorite dessert?

A. Funnel cake!

Hurricanes, tornadoes, both so dangerous. But also very different. In this book, we'll be able to learn the differences between hurricanes and tornadoes. But I'm pretty sure you know that so just turn the page.

I will DESTROY!!!

You're NOTHING compared to me!

Where are they formed?

Q. What did Hurricane Harvey say to Texas?

A. I have my eye on you...

Something that's different about hurricanes and tornadoes is how and where they form. Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters. When warm moist air over the water rises, it's replaced by cold air. The cold air then warms and starts to rise. This is what causes storm clouds to form and create a hurricane.

That's not all though. There's a specific place hurricanes form too. Since hurricanes form in warm water, they can't form in places that have cold ocean water. For example, the Oregon Coast is very cold, never more than 55 degrees, which is why Oregon never gets hurricanes. But somewhere tropical, for example, Florida. Florida is a warm tropical place with warm waters, that's why Florida has hurricanes, but Oregon doesn't. (In the map, red is where hurricanes hit).

Q. What is the most popular game played by tornadoes?

A. Catch my Drift

But when a tornado forms, it's very different. A tornado is actually not a storm like a hurricane is, but it comes with one. A tornado is almost always formed during a thunderstorm with hail when warm, moist air and cool, dry air collide and create instability in the atmosphere... Rising air within the updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. This creates a tornado.

Tornadoes form almost everywhere in the U.S., usually other than New York and up. They tend not to get tornadoes. Everyone past Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona get the most tornadoes in the U.S.. The states in this area are called Tornado Alley. If you don't live in Tornado Alley, you may or may not have experienced a tornado. I've never been anywhere in Tornado Ally, so I haven't been in a Tornado, Tornado Watch or Tornado Warning. (Tornado Watch is when conditions are right for a tornado, but none have been spotted. Tornado Warning is when a tornado HAS been seen and sirens go off.) Some of my family members have lived in Tornado Alley though, or still do. (In map, red is Tornado Alley)

How to Organize them

Q. How do hurricanes see?

A. With one eye!

We organize hurricanes very differently than tornadoes. We categorize hurricanes from a Cat or Category 1-5 hurricane. We also name them depending on whether they're the 1st or 6th of even 21st hurricane of the season. For example, Hurricane Rachel was a Cat 3 or Tropical Storm hurricane named Rachel because it was the 18th hurricane that season. Since R is the 18th letter in the alphabet, people came up with the name Rachel as an R name.

Tropical Storm Rachel (NOT ME)

Q. Why do tornadoes move so erratically?

A. They are dizzy

But for tornadoes, we use The Fujita Scale. This scale is obviously used for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict. The Fujita Scale goes from an EF - 0 to an EF - 5 tornado. We don't name tornadoes because by the time the Weather Service verifies the existence of a tornado and assigns a name, the newly named tornado would have already dissipated!

This tornado is most likely an EF - 1 or 2 tornado

The tornado in the distance is probably an EF - 4 or 5!

D, D, and D

Q. What did the hurricane say to the palm tree?

A. Hang on to your leaves, this will be no ordinary breeze!

Danger, Damage and Destruction. Of course, after any storm, the damage and destruction couldn't be worse. Both storms are responsible for hundreds or even thousands of deaths. At least 147 people die from a hurricane. The most common way to die in a hurricane is the storm surge. Many people drown in the flooding or are hit by flying debris.

High winds bring the ocean waters up to the shore. This is called storm surge.

This damage from a hurricane could've cost thousands or millions of dollars to rebuild. The damage could've been even worse though.