tornado 101

[calimac]

I'm about to head out to a part of the world where there's been a lot of tornadoes lately. Most likely I'll never encounter one, so that possibility is covered. But what about the other possibility, that by chance I do? I know what to do during an earthquake (and often enough have done it), and hurricanes move slowly and usually allow long warnings that they're coming, but aside from a few dust devils in the Central Valley I've had no encounter with tornadoes.

Let's say I'm driving along in my rented car, and there's been a tornado warning on the radio, and off in the distance I see a tornado. What am I supposed to do? How do I stay out of its way? How do I know what direction it's likely to be going? What do I do if I can't get out of its way? What if it's behind me, and it sees me before I see it? What if I'm not in my car, and there's no other people around to follow?

Comments

[scribblerworks.livejournal.com]

Behind the wave in the question, but "an underpass will do in a pinch" is NOT TRUE.

Underpasses increase the wind suction of the torando, so they are terrible places to shelter.

The lowest place you can find, more out in the open, is better. It's counter-intuitive, but much better physics.