Oklahoma Tornadoes and Their Destructive Methods What makes tornadoes and their destruction interesting to people? Is it the variety of formations, the miles one can travel, the random paths they take, the changes that tornadoes can make to the climate and formation of the territory or is it because tornadoes often leave behind them a path of destruction and death?In this article, I will discuss what tornadoes are and how they form, the different forms of tornadoes, what tornado watches and warnings are, and will give examples of tornadoes in Oklahoma and the destruction they caused, while providing information on Doppler radar. The Questions We often ask: what are tornadoes and how are they formed? Tornadoes are "violent wind storms that take the form of a rotating column of air or vortex that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud," as Tarbuck and Lutgens explain ( 2012). Wind shears form from warm air present at ground level; when high, the updraft meets a downdraft of cooler air that is moved in the opposite direction to the warm air. When both are pushed toward Earth, it creates wind shear. A rotating tube of air, created from wind shear; tilts upward to a vertical position as the updraft draws moisture from the ground and toward the sky. As the warm air cools high in the sky; this produces condensation. The condensation then produces storm clouds that rise to over 30,000 feet. The rotating air formations are then trapped and lifted into the storm cloud. It starts with a swirling motion and, if the winds remain viable, a supercell will form. Mesocyclones, as they are called, are a rotating cloud. If these rotating clouds collide with moist air, they will spit...... middle of paper ...... taken from http://onlineathens.com/national-news/2012 -04-16/could-better- tornado warnings cause complacencyNational Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (2009). Use and understanding of Doppler weather radar. Retrieved from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=using-radarNational Weather Service Office of Weather Forecasts. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=tornadodata-countyRebman, R.C. (2011). How are tornadoes formed? New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Severe weather and watches. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/watchvswarn.htmlTORNADOES. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/preparedness/tornado_large/fslide1.phpTornado reduces Oklahoma City to rubble. (2014). The History Channel website. Retrieved at 2:40 a.m. April 8, 2014 from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tornado-reduces-oklahoma-town-to-rubble