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How To Spot Tornadoes

Tornadoes, in my opinion, are the greatest occurence in weather. They hold so much power and come in many different shapes and sizes. In this hub, you will learn (if you don't already) how to spot a tornado or sense whether a tornado when a tornado will hit. This hub will hopefully bring awareness to citizens of how powerful and dangerous tornadoes really are.Tornadoes and How They FormA tornado, as you may suspect, is a giant rotating sphere suspended in the air. But tornadoes are MUCH more than this 3rd grade answer. Tornadoes form in powerful thunderstorms called supercells. Supercells last longer and are more powerful than your regular thunderstorm. The inflow of air into the storm forms a funnel shape in the clouds. The air caught in the funnel spins faster and faster until it starts to suck in more and more air, forming a tornado. Tornadoes will also be likely to occur with cold and hot air mixing together.

Some Ways to Spot a Tornado

1----Green Clouds

If you live in the country, you know of how flat and vegitative the country is. Green clouds are most likely to occur in the country. Green clouds are thought to be green because the reflection of light from the green vegitation reflects onto the clouds; and, as you know, tornadoes are most likely to occur in the country due to the flatness. If you see green clouds, you might want to check into the local weather station to see if severe weather is possible over the course of the day.

See the green color in the cloud?

2----Wall CloudsWall clouds are the clouds associated with tornadoes. Pretty much, tornadoes form and sprout out of the wall cloud. The wall cloud looks just like it sounds; a wall. It is a very low hanging cloud. When you see a wall cloud, it is almost certain a tornado will pop out of one of those suckers!

A Wall Cloud. Watch out for these suckers!Power FlashesSome tornadoes are, as I call them, 'hidden tornadoes'. These tornadoes have the potential to be hidden by blankets of rain. When the tornado is surrounded by heavy rain, it is impossible to see. But here is one tip that you can use to see if that thing you are looking at is a tornado; power flashes. Some people might think power flashes occur when the power in your home flashes. Although this is certainly true, there is another type of 'power flash'. When a tornado is spinning and doing its thing on the ground, power flashes can occur. Power flashes are when the tornado hits a power line(s). When the tornado hits the power line, a large lighting flash will occur. It is very brief, so you have to watch carefully. They sometimes occur almost right after each other so its easier to see.

A tornado hitting a power line causing a power flash

Tornado Safety

The single most important thing in a situation of observing a tornado, hands down, is safety! All of us have heard the expression 'Safety First'! Always be listening for tornado sirens. Sometimes, a tornado occurs so fast, that the siren warnings do not have enough time to warn the citizens. Listen to your local radio station or watch the TV. The weathermen will usually be on TV or radio updating local weather info that is critical to safety. If you do know that a tornado is headed straight for you, you should:

1) Get inside.

2) Find a room, or get into your room, set apart for tornado safety. The room must have no windows or heavy objects that might be dangerous if they do fall over.

3) Cover your whole body with a matress for flying debris. If you start to hear a sound like a freight train, that means the tornado is dangerously close.

4) Once the tornado passes, get out safely and check your surroundings. Your neighbors might need help!

This Post was posted by our resident Storm Spotter EZ

Like Planting Veggies In a BarrelBy Barbara DamroschSpecial to The Washington Post Thursday, April 16, 2009 For those who garden in small spaces, whiskey barrels are the best thing since whiskey. A barrel sawn in half at its waistline makes a sturdy planter about two feet in diameter and 16 to 18 inches tall. There are plenty of pots and planters on the market, elegant enough for the choicest lily, but this homey container never seems to lose its appeal. Its depth makes it ideal for a mini-vegetable garden, with plenty of room for roots. Six half barrels on a terrace provide more growing space than a 3-by-6-foot bed. If your barrel comes without drainage, drill a few half-inch holes in the bottom. Laying a scrap of fiberglass window screening or floating row cover on the bottom will keep the soil from falling through. I fill planters with a mix of one-third garden soil, one-third peat moss and one-third mature compost, plus a dash of lime, greensand and rock phosphate. (For clay soil, use one-quarter each of soil, peat, compost and sand.) If you farm a city balcony, with no good place to mix soil, it's fine to buy the bagged stuff, but add some good-quality compost. Soil for container plants must be fertile and light enough to resist compaction. Planters also need more-frequent watering than beds.Tiny as your barrel garden might seem, you can grow a surprising amount of food in it if you master the art of succession planting. That means starting a new crop every time an old one comes out. Thus, early self-supporting pea vines might be followed by a zucchini plant. When that stops producing, sow or transplant in some Tuscan kale. Interplanting, whereby crops share space and overlap, increases your harvest even more. Grow cut-and-come-again lettuce or mesclun mix around the edge of the barrel, then set a pepper plant in the center after danger of frost has passed. After that, in late summer, plant arugula around the edge to remain in the fall once the pepper has gone. Surround a tomato plant with basil, or eggplant with parsley. Encircle summer Swiss chard with fall carrots. Other excellent pot vegetables include radishes, beets, scallions and chives. A tepee of three bamboo poles will give you a long harvest of pole beans. And don't forget the old trick of potatoes-in-a-barrel. Fill the soil to within four inches of the top and plant four whole, pre-sprouted potatoes two inches below the surface. As the plants grow, fill the soil to the top. Use an early type, such as Red Norland, and you'll get a fine crop of delicious new potatoes. Most garden centers carry half barrels, either the authentic used ones or new ones built in that style. For the real thing, go to http://www.kentuckybarrels.com, a site powered by Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey. It also sells barrel liners for water gardens and dollies for moving soil-filled barrels around. Wake up, wake up, darlin' Corey. They've torn down your still, but there's gold in them thar barrels. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041501043.html?hpid%3Dsmartliving&sub=AR

This was posted by Tool of His, this past week