I know that (simplified) tornadoes form horizontally in a supercell due to opposing winds meeting, and it becomes a tornado when the rotating air goes vertical, but what sustains that rotation once the tornado is on the ground?
And then, once it’s on the ground, what causes it to eventually stop?
In: 1
Conservation of angular momentum, for one thing. Some research within the past 10 years or so has suggested this existence of something called a streamwise vorticity current, in which small whirlwinds are constantly moving into and merging with the tornado. At some point, rain-cooled air from another parts of the storm cuts off the circulation.
You are right, they start as what is called a mesocyclone which is horizontal, but then tip up to vertical. What keeps them going is that the upper level winds are still spinning, which then twists down into the vertical part. However, winds are notoriously chaotic, and if they end up disrupted in the upper level for whatever reason, the bottom part just sort of falls apart.
Source: am NOT a meteorologist, but that is my understanding. Anybody more qualified please feel free to come in and educate us both 😉
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