Since Tornadoes are rotating collumns of air

basilmarket.com forums : Chat | 11 posts archived

thread starter ClementZ Sep 07 2009 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

...shouldn't we measure them in RPM's, rather than mph? The only problem I see with this is that large wedge tornadoes would have fewer RPM's if they have the same wind speed as a smaller rope tornado.

devilskin 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

*Waits for bobo*

benq 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

no the mph measures how fast it moves linearly not how fast its rotation is

LimusocoBobo 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

I lol'd at the first post. Hmm... interesting concept, TS. I must ask, how exactly would you measure these "RPM"s?

ClementZ 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

benq : no the mph measures how fast it moves linearly not how fast its rotation is So the Moore F5 of May 1999 was moving at 301mph?

Torchic 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

LimusocoBobo : I lol'd at the first post. Hmm... interesting concept, TS. I must ask, how exactly would you measure these "RPM"s? I'm assuming you're a weatherman, WHERE CAN I WATCH YOU ON TV?

benq 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

@bobo: it would be easier to figure out a particles angular velocity as it revolves around the tornado's centre then convert radians to arc length.

Milkshakess 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Torchic : I'm assuming you're a weatherman, WHERE CAN I WATCH YOU ON TV? I would like to know that as well. D: But anyways, since they're rotations how would you measure them? o:

LimusocoBobo Sep 07 2009 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

benq : no the mph measures how fast it moves linearly not how fast its rotation is ClementZ : So the Moore F5 of May 1999 was moving at 301mph? The wind speed measurements take into account the wind speed from the tornado's "linear speed" (how fast it's moving) and the rotational speed (how fast the air column itself is rotating). This is why certain areas of a tornado can be more destructive than others. The winds on the front (in relation to the direction of travel) of a tornado are usually twice as fast as the winds on the back end, because the tornado's "linear speed" gets added to the rotational speed. The winds on the back side are weaker, vice versa etc. Torchic : I'm assuming you're a weatherman, WHERE CAN I WATCH YOU ON TV? Nowhere just yet. But in 1-2 years, I'll be on TV somewhere ;D

kratos1207 09/07/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

I think that tornados rotate at different speeds are different parts of the column, so the bottom might have 100rpm while the top has 50rpm

CrayonScribble 09/08/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Rotation eh? This sounds like PHYSICS. Circular acceleration is v^2/r so I guess that could be used too.