How tornadoes form Tornadoes have long fascinated people for their destructive powers. Most tornadoes form during the months of March through June but the peak of tornado season is March and April. The tornado season usually happens in the eastern and midwestern states. There are 3 main steps to form a Tornado. The first step is when the atmosphere is unstable and the rising hot air is cooled and becomes a rain cloud causing it to rain, the second step is when the cold air and the warm air advance and make it rain more causing a bigger storm due to the water vapor releasing its heat, the third step is when the humidity meshes in with the cold air forming it to rain even more and the storm starts rotating and forming a mesocyclone and making and wall and then a funnel cloud creating a tornado. Tornadoes are subjects of intense scientific study even today for their random appearances.In the first step is when the storm clouds form. The atmosphere is unstable and the temperature drops swiftly in this weather thunderstorms are most likely to develop. Under unstable conditions, air close to the surface begins rising, expanding and cooling but it still remains warm and less dense than the surrounding air. When the air is warm it is less dense, when the air is cool it is more dense in this case. The warm air acts like a hot air balloon because it’s less dense causing it to rise. When the rising air is cooled to the Dew point it causes the water vapor in the air to form water droplets. After this the rising air is now a risible cloud. Then if the rising air is sustained long enough the water droplets will fall transforming the cloud into a rain cloud. Finally at this point the storm is just brewing and the first step to becoming a tornado. In the second step the rain cloud will only become a severe storm if the atmosphere becomes very unstable causing it to form a tornado. Moving low-pressure systems that bring the cold air into contact with the warm air makes it humid, this will make the storm much worse later on. Cold air overruling humid air creates very unstable atmospheric conditions. A front is a temperature boundary separating between the warm surface air and the cold air. Next the cold air advancing with the warm air is caused by the low-pressure center near Earth’s surface. The edge of the advancing cold air is called a cold front, the cold air forces the warmer air ahead of the cold front to rise and cool. Since the atmosphere is so unstable and the displaced air keeps rising, and forming a bigger rain cloud. The water droplets begins to fall faster which causes downdrafts in the cloud. While this happens the storm has strong updrafts and the humid air is now pulled into the storm. The downdrafts and the updrafts makes the cloud eventually rotate. Then, when the water vapor condenses it releases heat. When the water vapor condenses to form more water droplets it rises and cools releasing its heat in the process. This warms the air and forces it to rise more vigorously which strengthens the storm, causing the clouds to spiral. At this step the process has gotten much worse due to the water vapor condensing and releasing its heat.In the Third step the storm is getting stronger because of the updrafts pulling more air into the clouds base, replacing the rising air, causing the clouds to rotate. As the new air converges into the rising air, the storm cloud begins to rotate faster and faster. This happens due to the law of physics called the conservation of angular momentum. Air moving into the severe storm begins to form a tight collom and increases the rotating speed of the cloud called a mesocyclone. The mesocyclone begins to build up and extends itself upward throughout the cloud rapidly. This mesocyclone causes the surrounding air pressure to drop (remember that this happens in step 1) which pulls more air in the mesocyclone. The steps repeat and the low-pressure causes the incoming air to cool and form water droplets, then they vaporise and rise into the mesocyclones base. During this step the mesocyclone forms a cloud wall. The mesocyclones base is 6.2 mi and continues to grow above the surface. When the mesocyclone plunges below the cloud wall it now becomes and funnel cloud. Causing it to now become a tornado. Tornadoes are very dangerous and you should listen to the signals to get somewhere safe. If you are outside get into a ditch and put your knees to your chest and your arms around your head. If you are inside stay in a basement or a room with no windows. There are about 60 people killed by tornadoes each year by flying debris.