View Full Version : Tornados Suck?????



bucktalk
03-27-2012, 05:31 AM
Maybe someone can answer this question. Let's say you have a underground storm shelter but it has no door. A tornado passes within a few feet from your shelter. What are the chances you'd actually be sucked out? I'm wondering what a vital role a shelter door does or doesn't play?? Anyone have any ideas about this?

HewenttoJared
03-27-2012, 06:32 AM
What kind of shelter. Is it just a hole in the ground? A bowl in the ground? What size tornado?

jn1780
03-27-2012, 10:36 AM
Assuming were talking about an underground stormshelter with one opening, I would say you wouldn't get sucked out because there is no way for the air to flow through. The door would keep debris from flying in though.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

MDot
03-27-2012, 10:51 AM
Assuming were talking about an underground stormshelter with one opening, I would say you wouldn't get sucked out because there is no way for the air to flow through. The door would keep debris from flying in though.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm honestly not 100% sure but I would think it could still suck you out with even just one opening if it got close enough and was big enough. Don't take my word for it because I'm not sure but that's what I would think.

I'm not saying you're wrong but that's my take on it.

Jim Kyle
03-27-2012, 01:13 PM
I seriously doubt that there could be enough pressure differential between the air in the shelter and the low-pressure air in the center of the vortex to lift anything weighing more than a pound or two out through the opening.

It's primarily the wind that does all the damage, and that wind is due to the difference in atmospheric pressure between the "normal" 15 lb/square inch and the very low pressure inside the vortex (as I recall, about 25 inches of mercury, or around 80% of normal, but I could be way off on the figures). If my recollection of 80% is correct, that would be a difference of only three pounds/square inch. A small dog might have a surface area of around 72 square inches (for a Chihuahua) and that would translate to about 216 pounds of lift. Bye-bye dog... However, during a storm it's not likely that the pressure inside the shelter would be up to normal levels, which would reduce the lift. If the difference in pressure is only a few ounces/square inch, the dog would probably be perfectly safe -- and so would anyone heavier who didn't have vastly greater surface area to which the lift could be applied.

Maybe one of the NWS mavens will chime in with some actual figures to clear things up. I do know that Gary England told me some years ago that he found the opening sequence of "Twister" a bit amusing, as well as technically inaccurate in that the tree outside the cellar remained vertical through the storm...

MDot
03-27-2012, 01:27 PM
I stand corrected. Thanks, Jim.

Roadhawg
03-28-2012, 06:53 AM
One thing I like about this site is there are lots of folks with different information and you can usually find the answer you're looking for.