SCIENCE INSIDE A TORNADO - Decoding the EF5

Scientists place instruments inside a tornado to learn why one supercell produces tornadoes and another does not. Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Leigh Orf takes a different approach by growing storms that produce EF5 tornadoes in a supercomputer. To license tornado videos contact hankschyma@ Rare EF5 tornadoes produce wind speeds estimated over 200 mph. Many people ignore tornado warnings because of too many false alarms. Others don’t respond because they don’t see a tornado. The National Weather Service has the difficult task of trying to warn the public. But because we still don’t understand why one supercell produces a tornado and why another does not the NWS warns the majority of supercells. To reduce the “cried wolf effect” scientists are trying to figure out why one supercell produces tornadoes and why another does not. Every Spring, scientists attempt to collect the data needed by deploying instruments inside a tornado and by scanning them with mobile radar as close as possible. Atmosph