It seems we can monitor hurricanes weeks out before most even form and pinpoint their rough destination. Why can we not monitor the winds and temperatures in land and know tornadoes are likely to form in a certain area; outside of 30 minutes before hand?
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(Its been a minute since I took an extreme weather course) but bottom line is, we kinda do. As best we can.
Tornados form when hot and cold air mix together at abrupt extremes. We can watch hot and cold fronts and can tell when they may mix dangerously, as well as monitor wind speeds. If conditions are right for a tornado to form, a tornado watch is issued, as in “hey, watch out for a tornado”. A tornado *warning* occurs when a tornado is confirmed to have actually formed and made in existence.
There are too many factors involved to be specific with timing or location, so we can’t yet “count down” to a tornado’s formation. And even if we could, some tornados only touch down for a moment or two before dissipating.
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