Tornado - Research

Since I'm doing a tornado, there's no point basing it on other people's work etc.

I thought it's best to actually watch some videos of tornadoes.

So I spent a while on that. I watched lots and lots, but here's a few most interesting ones. 

I think my favourite bit of this video was around 3:55 it's just... breathtaking.

and then around 4:20 because you can see properly how it moves and the whole structure of it.
Then at 5:11 when it's really dark, looks amazing, the size and colour make it look really dangerous. It doesn't look like a fluffy cloud anymore. And when they zoom out at 5:29 you can see the whole thing... It just looks beautiful.

The more I watched them i realized that the huge ones don't seem to be spinning that fast, it actually looks quite slow. I think it's similar to a plane going across the sky, it looks to be moving really slow but actually it's quite the opposite. 

I like this video because in the beginning you actually see the cloud movement. Because it's got a nice contrast, it helps me to understand the movement a little better. Will therefore be very helpful when creating a tornado of my own.
It smashed right through the window and you can see how the bits cuts this guys face! And that was only at the beginning of the whole thing, you can only imagine the power of it when it fully develops.

On this video you can see how its colour varies depends on what ground it's on. A really important point because it'll look out of place if it's not the right colour. I also like the shape of it. 

This video is amazing, the timelapse at the beginning you can see the beautiful sky, this is definitely what I want my sky to look like! 

And again at 0:57 it looks unreal! 

The only thing is that they all come in different shapes and sizes and I think I'm going to go for the traditional look, so it's not confusing to what it is. And when it comes to size I'll just make sure it suits the footage but still communicates the strength of it and looks believable when it starts ripping into buildings.

Tornado - research

Soooo, the tornado business, probably my favourite one.
I find it quite difficult trying to explain how it happens or what it is, even though I know so a lot of dictionary definitions were involved here :')
So, a tornado is a violently rotating column of air... for it to be classed as a tornado it's got to be in contact with both the surface of the earth, and a cloud base. 

Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, mostly come in a form of a visibly condensation funnel, the narrow end touches the earth and is usually surrounded by a cloud of debris and dust. It's nearly transparent, unless a cloud forms within the funnel, when it starts to pick up the dust and the debris it changes colour, which means it will match the colour of the ground.
Most tornadoes get up to 110 miles per hour and are about 76m across, and travel a few miles before dissipating.
The more extreme cases get up and above 300mph and stretch for more than two miles, and can stay on the ground for more than 100km.
Tornado winds are the fastest winds on Earth.
So I've read there are a few scales for rating the tornadoes.
The fujita scale for example, rates them by damage caused.
An F0 or EF0 tornado, the weakest category can damage trees etc but not structures.
An F5 or EF5 are the strongest category, it can deform large skyscrapers and rip buildings off their foundations.
Or a TORRO scale which ranges from a T0 (weak) to T11 (most powerful tornadoes).
It is possible that a single storm will produce more than one tornado.
Multiple tornadoes produced by the same storm are referred to a tornado family.
I was reading some interesting facts about tornadoes and I came across one that said that tornadoes can hop  along it's path, destroy one house, and leave the one next to it intact.
In 1928 a tornado lifted an 83ton train, and casually tossed it 80 feet from the tracks :')
Aaaaand I think that's about everything I wanted to mention about tornadoes C: