Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather inquiry - What's the difference between a waterspout and a tornado?

What's the difference between a waterspout and a tornado?

Waterspouts are a kind of tornadoes, but tornadoes are rare in Hong Kong. Tornadoes are caused by a hot and humid airflow rising and another dry and cold airflow falling, forming a balanced convection. What are the speed and direction of the two air streams? The air between the two streams falls left and right together, forming the strongest vortex phenomenon in the atmosphere. Every time a tornado is mixed with strong thunderstorm and rainstorm, a strange rain cloud usually appears first, and then the rain cloud bulges downward and gradually moves downward into a funnel shape to connect with the water surface or the ground. If water vapor rises on the water surface, such as water absorption, it is also called "dragon water absorption". After the rapidly rotating air column is formed on the water surface, the seawater is pulled into the air, and the waterspout may roll the creatures in the water into the air and then suddenly disperse to the land. When a waterspout moves to land, it usually dissipates quickly, but in some special cases, it moves for a long distance on land. From the meteorological point of view, the reason for the formation of tornadoes is that the temperature difference between the upper and lower clouds is too large, resulting in a small vortex in which cold air drops and hot air rises; At this time, white clouds like cotton appeared in the sky, called "cumulus clouds". After that, the cumulonimbus cloud continued to develop in the whirlpool to form a "cumulonimbus cloud", and the latent heat inside the cumulonimbus cloud continued to heat up, thus producing a powerful airflow, the so-called "tornado." Tornado is an extremely strong and dangerous cyclone, which can occur on land (called tornado) or at sea (called waterspout). The reason for this situation is that the tropical moist air mass pushes northward, while the dry cold air mass invades at high altitude, causing vortex motion and forming thick cumulonimbus clouds. When its vortex motion becomes more and more violent, it can fall straight from the cloud to the ground, forming a funnel-shaped cloud column, in which the wind is extremely strong and the destructive power is extremely amazing, which is the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena. Many meteorologists classify tornadoes into six grades, namely "F0" to "F5", and according to their intensity, they can be roughly divided into three types: 1. Weak tornado (2) Strong tornado (3) Violent tornado (2) According to its type, there are two types of tornado: downward tornado-the pressure difference between the upper cumulonimbus cloud and the center increases, which makes the airflow drag downward. Also known as "jet" tornado. Rising tornado-the rising airflow in a tornado is like a vacuum cleaner inhaling various substances on the ground, which is the so-called "updraft" tornado; Also known as "inhalation" tornado. The tornado in the water is a waterspout. The life of tornado can be divided into several stages: funnel cloud, tornado, mature tornado, shrinking tornado and declining tornado. Funnel clouds are usually the visible beginning of tornadoes.

When funnel clouds extend from cumulonimbus clouds to the ground

It is clearly visible. If the funnel cloud reaches the ground, it will enter the next stage.

Officially defined as a tornado. Tornado walls are not as often visible as condensed water vapor (such as clouds).

But whether a tornado touches the ground can be determined by the debris and dust involved in the vortex. When the tornado funnel cloud reaches the maximum width (within the range of 15m to 2km) and is close to the vertical ground.

The tornado began to enter the third stage.

This is called a mature tornado. The mature tornado is the most violent period in his life.

It can destroy almost everything on the way. A fast-moving tornado can travel dozens of kilometers before it dissipates.

When this happens,

The tornado will enter the fourth stage.

It's called a contraction tornado. The funnel of the tornado began to bend.

No longer close to vertical. In addition,

The width of the funnel cloud is obviously reduced.

And destructive power, although still variable.

But it is usually weakened. The dying tornado is small and twisted.

It seems to have slowly shrunk into the sky. It just left a trail of destruction where it passed. According to research, in North America

Tornadoes peak in midsummer.

In winter,

There are few tornadoes.

Tornadoes are not confused with other meteorological eddies, such as dust rolls, which usually do not come from thunderstorms, but are completely different natural phenomena. According to the frequently asked questions about tornadoes from the National Weather Service, tornadoes are tornadoes on water-usually non-supercell tornadoes on water. Tornadoes usually occur along the southeast coast of the United States, especially in southern Florida and reefs (in the Gulf of Mexico), and oceans, bays and lakes all over the world may appear. Although a tornado is often defined as a tornado, in fact, in a formal definition, it cannot be classified as a tornado unless it attacks the land. Their destructiveness is smaller and weaker than that of the most powerful prairie, but they are still quite dangerous. Tornadoes can overturn ships and destroy them. When they land, they will do more damage and take lives. When tornadoes may occur or are already visible in coastal waters, the National Weather Service usually issues special warnings at sea, or issues tornado warnings when tornadoes will move to land. Latest case: Observatory: Tornado in China and Hong Kong on May 20, 2002 According to previous records, there were five tornado cases in China and Hong Kong. The last tornado happened in Fanling in May 1994. The first recorded tornado in China and Hongkong was in Yuen Long on June 2nd, 1982, which caused casualties. The other three times appeared in 1983 and 1986 respectively (twice). Tornadoes that appear on the water are called waterspouts. Since 1959, there have been 36 waterspouts or funnel-shaped clouds similar to waterspouts within 460 kilometers (250 nautical miles) of China and Hongkong. 1982, a waterspout appeared in the south of Tsing Yi Island, and more than 14 containers were swept into the air, and the roof was also lifted. 1986, a waterspout overturned two fishing boats in China and Hongkong, and four people drowned. In the hot weather, two rare waterspouts appeared off Lantau Island and Lamma Island yesterday morning. Fortunately, no ships passed by, causing no losses or casualties, otherwise the consequences would be serious. There are 27 recorded waterspouts in Hong Kong (excluding yesterday's report). Although it caused losses, no one was killed or injured. A spokesman for the Observatory said that "waterspout" is a kind of tornado, which is mainly caused by unstable weather and strong air convection. It is usually accompanied by thunderstorms, which is rare in such sunny weather. When the "waterspout" occurs, there will be a cyclone column, which is shaped like a column, but keeps rotating, rolling up the sea water and rising to the sky. The spokesman also said that the wind speed of the "waterspout" can reach more than 0/00 kilometers per hour, which is quite destructive and can roll up small ships sailing at sea, causing harm to the people on board. As for tornadoes that happen on land, they are called "tornadoes", but they can be turned into tornadoes when blown to land, and they can also be blown into the sea. According to previous records, there were 27 waterspouts from 1959 to June 14, 2002, but there is still no statistical record. In the past, waterspouts damaged ships and other objects, but there were no casualties. Yesterday's "waterspout" appeared an hour apart. First, at 7: 45 in the morning, off the coast of Shiguzhou, someone gambled that the water column would roll seawater into the air, which became a spectacle. At 8: 45, the same scene appeared outside Lamma Island for another ten minutes. Fortunately, when the "waterspout" appeared twice, no ship passed by without causing any damage. A waterspout is an air cylinder rotating rapidly on the water surface, which has all the characteristics of a tornado. Waterspouts usually extend downward from cumulonimbus clouds or cumulonimbus clouds with uplift at the top. Dark spots in the water sometimes indicate that a new waterspout is about to form, and the funnel cloud generated by atmospheric water condensation will extend downward from the bottom of the cloud sooner or later. When a complete waterspout is formed, it connects the gray point with the funnel cloud from bottom to top. When the wind speed increases and the funnel cloud hangs low, foam circles as high as 30 meters may be splashed above the water surface. However, most waterspouts are weaker than tornadoes, and usually once they are transferred from water to land, their structures will be destroyed. The tornado in the water is a waterspout. The life of tornado can be divided into several stages: funnel cloud, tornado, mature tornado, shrinking tornado and declining tornado. Funnel clouds are usually the visible beginning of tornadoes.