The Day After Tomorrow Project

In the movie the Day After Tomorrow, many natural disasters

happen all across the United States. The disaster I wanted to focus on
was the Tornadoes that happened in Los Angeles, California. I feel like
the tornadoes were used in this movie to kick of all the things that
were about to happen and show the people that something serious was
going on with the weather that was very far from normal. It was one of
the first disasters that happened in the movie and it indeed shocked
the world. There were 3 or 4 tornadoes all across Los Angeles
completely destroying everything in its path; buildings, cars, tress,
roads etc. I think they also used the Los Angeles Tornadoes because it
opened up the eyes of meteorologists to new ideas and theories,
specifically the idea that the main actor had that no one would believe
in.
A spiral of violent wind that destroys anything in its path,
tornadoes, also know as twisters are a force not to be reckon with.
Tornadoes can be one of the most destructive forces, especially to
anything that lies in its path. They can destroy large buildings, rip
trees out of the ground and launch cars hundreds of yards. The
National Weather Service (NWS) states that a tornado is a violently
rotating (usually counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere) column
of air descending from a thunderstorm and in contact with the ground.
Tornadoes can very in size, anywhere from 300 feet to over two miles
wide. They can have extreme speeds, anywhere from 30-65 mph and
wind speeds up to 300 mph. The thing that makes them so destructive
is the wind speeds within them. The atmospheric pressure inside can
be 10% lower then the air surrounding it, which causes air to flow into
it from all directions. Many things can cause tornadoes such as cold
fronts, severe thunderstorms, squall lines, supercells, and hurricanes.
Tornadoes are limited to where they can and cannot happen, based on
Geography. Tornadoes are normally brief but can last up to an hour,
and can be very destructive. They are based on a scale from 1-5, 5
being the largest. They are most likely to happen in the late afternoon,
early evening hours, which is the warmer part of the day. They also are
more likely to happen in the spring and fall, with April-June being the
greatest. Interesting fact to know is that more tornadoes happen in the
United States then the rest of the world combined. A typical year in the

United States will produce up to 1300 tornadoes. The greatest risk to

tornadoes is the Midwest.

When you get warm, moist air and cool, dry air, this creates
instability in the atmosphere. Winds at different altitudes within a
thunderstorm increase and change direction, this is called wind shear.
This wind shear creates a rotating horizontal spinning effect in the
lower atmosphere. Rising air within the updraft tilts the rotating air
from horizontal to vertical. As the ground heats up, updrafts pick up
the rotating air into a portion of thunderstorms, called a rotating
mesocyclone. The updrafts stretch and tighten the vertical column of
air causing it to rotate faster. As the rotating updrafts rise, a rotating
wall cloud begins to form from the base of a mesocyclone. Moisture is
picked up, cooled and condensed as well as debris is picked up that
makes the tornado darker and visible. For more Information go to
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorms/tornado.htm .

The movie wasnt very realistic but thats what is expected with
Hollywood and the special effects we have in todays movies. Its not

common for 3 or 4 tornadoes to form all at the same time in the same
location. Also Los Angeles isnt a common place like the Midwest,
which tornadoes are likely to happen at. The damage that was shown
from the tornadoes was accurate at times. It really does destroy
anything in its path. Overall the movie exaggerated the disaster but it
made it more entertaining.
Sources Cited
Geography Education, Textbook, Chapter 8
http://www.opengeography.org/ch-8-severe-weather.html
National Weather Service
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorms/tornado.htm
Weather Wiz Kids
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htm
Images all came from Google Images;
tornado-risk-map.jpg
tumblr_ljnaeh82KX1qzndb7o1_500.jpg
716tornado.jpg