This year, nearly 900 tornadoes have swept through over 30 states, resulting in fatalities and extensive damage, costing billions. The factors for tornado formation include the presence of a supercell thunderstorm, which has a specific atmospheric configuration. This involves warm, moist air at the ground layer and cold, dry air aloft, alongside wind shear that creates horizontally rotating air. Although these elements are crucial, many supercells do not produce tornadoes, and the precise mechanics behind tornado development remain uncertain.
In order to get a tornado, you need to have a thunderstorm that's capable of producing a tornado, says Jana Houser, a tornado researcher at the Ohio State University.
Supercell formation requires a set of conditions that make the atmosphere unstable, and these start with warm, moist air at the surface and cold, dry air above.
Most supercells don't even actually produce tornadoes in their lifetime, Houser says. The exact mechanics of tornado formation aren't yet fully understood.
This mix needs yet another specific ingredient, wind shear, where winds change speed and direction as you go up with height in the atmosphere.
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