what is the difference between a storm warning and a storm watch? The same with a tornado? Watch? Warning?
547570
A watch is when they THINK there is going to be a big storm and a warning is when someone has SPOTTED it
1106871
I've seen several funnel clouds, those are an awesome and chilling sight. By the time you notice them they're pretty well-formed. Almost all of them last a few seconds and either dissipate or roll back up into the sky. We were actually involved with a real tornado three years ago, It was an F1-F2 that stayed on the ground for almost thirty miles. I heard  the siren go off in the next town, we got the kids and the dogs in the basement. My wife and I kept going outside and looking around for something more threatening than the usual oncoming thunderstorm. After about 10 minutes we heard the freight train coming and headed downstairs. The house shook enough that the dust came down from the rafters. It lasted less than thirty seconds and then a whole lot of rain came down. The tornado missed us by 200 yards. The telephone pole in the corner of my back yard was okay, the one next to it was torn out of the ground and thrown across the road. The one next to that was torn out and thrown a hundred yards. No one in my rural neighborhood was hurt, but they did wind up bulldozing and rebuilding three homes. The home across the street had the front porch torn off and thrown over the roof, exposing a large hole in the roof deck that let in enough rain to collapse most of the ceilings. The path of damage was maybe a half-mile wide. Homes outside that range did not see much damage. I was surprised that the wind was toward the tornado, not away from it. The funnel was enough of a low-pressure point to draw the air towards it at a hundred-and-some miles an hour. The broken trees have repaired themselves, the homes and farms have been rebuilt, The only lasting reminder is a lot of sheets of tin barn roof still wrapped around treetops. We're in Northern Ohio. Moderate tornado damage is at least a yearly event in the area. Huge destructive disastrous storms like they get in the plains are a rarity.
312470
The colored boxes on weather maps indicate areas under severe thunderstorm (yellow) or tornado (red) watches.  They are used to show areas that may see severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
154868
An F-5 tornado is capable of producing MUCH stronger winds than a CAT 5 Hurricane.  However, a tornado will damage on a much smaller scale than a hurricane.  \n\nWhile an F-5 tornado my take out multiple houses, a Cat V hurricane will take out an entire metropolis.
571449
i must imagine you are talking about vortices, like tornadoes, and hurricane eye walls, however it is a big misconception that the eye of the hurricane is a column, its eyewall is slanted, so it is bigger at the top than at the bottom, it gives you the illusion of being in a football stadium, that is way too huge.  And tornadoes are slightly like that, but mostly they are column like.  So in response to that Columns do rule, If you want to learn more about them you should become a meteorologist and do research on tornadoes and hurricanes, I am working on research on hurricane Katrina.
835940
Tornado, lasts minutes.  Thunderstorms hours, Blizzard hours to a day or so.  Hurricane, day to several days.
376761
This is a trick question. There really isn't much of a difference. They all mean the sky is part clear, and part cloudy. It just gives us a larger vocabulary to work with. \n\nAlthough most of the time, we'll tend to use it as a bit of psychological factor. If the forecast is improving (as in, rain event is just ending and we'll clear up a bit), we'll usually go partly sunny. \n\nIf the forecast is deteriorating (as in, it's sunny now, but rain moving in tomorrow), we might say mostly cloudy as the condition during the increasing clouds. \n\nWe tend to save 'partly cloudy' for nighttime, since we can't use partly sunny.
349724
Anyone who thinks man can control the weather has no concept of the energy involved in a simple thunderstorm not to mention a tornado or hurricane. \n\nBut before you can control the weather, you need to be able to predict it. So when the weather forecasts become accurate, I'll start worrying about the government controlling.
473246
Generally, storms are low-pressure areas and nice clear weather systems are high-pressure areas.  So if pressure is falling, precipitation might be coming, and if it's rising, better weather might be coming.
1049502
The best way to view them is on video.\nA waterspout that makes landfall takes on a new name then... tornado.  The water that has been sucked-up into the funnel becomes very unstable at landfall and goes everywhere.  The wind does even more damage.\nSo for that reason, treat a waterspout the same as you would any tornado.
785117
an Electrical storm involves lightning.\nAnd lightning can travel at the speed of light.\nBecause it mostly is light.\n\nThunder is slower and goes at the speed of sound so we hear the thunder later.
1065131
Meteorology is a fairly new science. The first artificial satellite dedicated to weather was launched in 1960. Our satellites and weather equipment and mapping are getting better with each year and with each satellite launched. In other words, give it time, we are still learning lots about the extremely dynamic weather! \n:-D\n\nCurrently, meteorologists are wrong on their LONG-TERM forcasts about 15% of the time.
980239
The correct phrase reads:\n\nThe QUIET before the storm.  \n\nThis typically refers to pathetic fallacy (nature in sympathy with "man") and refers to the *LULL* of activity before events unfold in a dramatic (stormy) manner.
977072
Hurricanes, because they have the vast supply of warm, moist air at their disposal, whereas the other two, their conditions are only prime for a few hours, or in a tornado's case, minutes, where a hurricane can last for a few weeks, if you count the pre- and post hurricane status.
1004578
I think the weather is off because, I don't think that the news is the greatest thing for the weather. One time they said it was going to rain, I was excited, but dissappointed. I wonder when did they decide to be the foretellers of the world. Maybe everysince they've started showing the news; now their inaccuracies are on the internet. Too bad for the people. But I say good job on the forecast on the Katrina and the hurricanes that they've warned people about in advanced, you have to give them that.
608754
I love to watch them on tv. I love a thunderstorm near my house. Never been in a tornado or hurricane but they look really scary on tv. I think I would be very scared if I had to go thru a tornado of hurricane. We had a tropical storm one time with winds up to 70 mph. It was awful and lasted all night. I was so worried about the trees crashing on my house. They didn't but the ones in the far back fell. The house shook.
466630
try this site http://www.howstuffworks.com/tornado.htm