Fire whirls, also known as fire devils, fire tornadoes or firenadoes, are whirlwinds of flame that may occur when intense heat and turbulent wind conditions combine to form whirling eddies of air. These eddies can tighten into a tornado-like structure that sucks in burning debris and combustible gases.
Formation
Combustible, carbon-rich gases released by burning vegetation on the ground are fuel for most fire tornadoes. When sucked up by a whirl of air, this unburned gas travels up the core until it reaches a region where there is enough fresh, heated oxygen to set it ablaze. This causes the tall and skinny appearance of a fire tornado's core.A fire tornado consists of a core—the part that is actually on fire—and an invisible pocket of rotating air that feeds fresh oxygen to the core. The core of a typical fire tornado is 1 to 3 feet (0.30 to 0.91 m) wide and 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) tall. Under the right conditions, large fire tornadoes—several tens of feet wide and more than 1,000 feet (300 m) tall—can form. The temperature inside the core of a fire tornado can reach up to 2,000 °F (1,090 °C)—hot enough to potentially reignite ashes sucked up from the ground. Often, fire tornadoes are created when a wildfire or firestorm creates its own wind, which can turn into a spinning vortex of flame.
Real-world fire whirls usually move fairly slowly. Fire tornadoes can set objects in their paths ablaze and can hurl burning debris out into their surroundings. The winds generated by a fire tornado can also be dangerous. Large fire tornadoes can create wind speeds of more than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)—strong enough to knock down trees.
Fire tornadoes can last for an hour or more, and they cannot be extinguished directly.
Examples
During the 2003 Canberra bushfires, a fire tornado with a diameter of nearly 500 metres (1,600 ft) with horizontal winds exceeding 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) was documented. Further research into the fires confirmed this in 2012. In Canberra, wind damage consistent with an F3 tornado on the Fujita Scale was observed, in addition to the fire damage. New research released in 2013 showed that the supercell thunderstorm that caused the tornado originated from the converging winds of firestorm itself, one of the first confirmed observations of an intense thunderstorm forming from a Pyrocumulonimbus cloud.
The Great Peshtigo Fire grew into a firestorm which probably made one or several true tornadoes. Roofs were torn off the houses; even railway wagons were tossed around.
Another extreme example of a fire tornado from other than a vegetation fire is the 1923 Great KantÅ earthquake in Japan which ignited a large city-sized firestorm and produced a gigantic fire whirl that killed 38,000 in fifteen minutes in the Hifukusho-Ato region of Tokyo. Survivors' accounts of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima also describe powerful fire whirls of tornadic proportions during the firestorm that followed the bombing.
Another example is the numerous large fire whirls (some tornadic) that developed after lightning struck an oil storage facility near San Luis Obispo, California on 7 April 1926, several of which produced significant structural damage well away from the fire, killing two. Thousands of whirlwinds were produced by the four-day-longfirestorm coincident with conditions that produced severe thunderstorms, in which the larger fire whirls carried debris 5 kilometers away.
Classification
There are currently three known types of fire whirls:
Type 1: Stable and centered over burning area.
Type 2: Stable or transient, downwind of burning area.
Type 3: Steady or transient, centered over an open area adjacent to an asymmetric burning area with wind.
There is evidence suggesting that the fire whirl in the Hifukusho-ato area, during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, was of type 3.
A tornado is "a violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud". For a vortex to be classified as a tornado, it must be in contact with both the ground and the cloud base. Scientists have not yet created a complete definition of the word; for example, there is disagreement as to whether separate touchdowns of the same funnel constitute separate tornadoes.Tornado refers to the vortex of wind, not the condensation cloud.
Characteristics
Size and shape
Small, relatively weak landspouts may be visible only as a small swirl of dust on the ground. Although the condensation funnel may not extend all the way to the ground, if associated surface winds are greater than 40 mph (64 km/h), the circulation is considered a tornado. A tornado with a nearly cylindrical profile and relative low height is sometimes referred to as a "stovepipe" tornado. Large single-vortex tornadoes can look like large wedges stuck into the ground, and so are known as "wedge tornadoes" or "wedges". The "stovepipe" classification is also used for this type of tornado, if it otherwise fits that profile. A wedge can be so wide that it appears to be a block of dark clouds, wider than the distance from the cloud base to the ground. Even experienced storm observers may not be able to tell the difference between a low-hanging cloud and a wedge tornado from a distance. Many, but not all major tornadoes are wedges.
Tornadoes in the dissipating stage can resemble narrow tubes or ropes, and often curl or twist into complex shapes. These tornadoes are said to be "roping out", or becoming a "rope tornado". When they rope out, the length of their funnel increases, which forces the winds within the funnel to weaken due to conservation of angular momentum. Multiple-vortex tornadoes can appear as a family of swirls circling a common center, or they may be completely obscured by condensation, dust, and debris, appearing to be a single funnel.
In the United States, tornadoes are around 500 feet (150 m) across on average and travel on the ground for 5 miles (8.0 km).However, there is a wide range of tornado sizes. Weak tornadoes, or strong yet dissipating tornadoes, can be exceedingly narrow, sometimes only a few feet or couple meters across. One tornado was reported to have a damage path only 7 feet (2 m) long. On the other end of the spectrum, wedge tornadoes can have a damage path a mile (1.6 km) wide or more. A tornado that affected Hallam, Nebraska on May 22, 2004, was up to 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide at the ground.
In terms of path length, the Tri-State Tornado, which affected parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925, was on the ground continuously for 219 miles (352 km). Many tornadoes which appear to have path lengths of 100 miles (160 km) or longer are composed of a family of tornadoes which have formed in quick succession; however, there is no substantial evidence that this occurred in the case of the Tri-State Tornado. In fact, modern reanalysis of the path suggests that the tornado may have begun 15 miles (24 km) further west than previously thought.
Appearance
Tornadoes can have a wide range of colors, depending on the environment in which they form. Those that form in dry environments can be nearly invisible, marked only by swirling debris at the base of the funnel. Condensation funnels that pick up little or no debris can be gray to white. While traveling over a body of water (as a waterspout), tornadoes can turn very white or even blue. Slow-moving funnels, which ingest a considerable amount of debris and dirt, are usually darker, taking on the color of debris. Tornadoes in the Great Plains can turn red because of the reddish tint of the soil, and tornadoes in mountainous areas can travel over snow-covered ground, turning white.
Lighting conditions are a major factor in the appearance of a tornado. A tornado which is "back-lit" (viewed with the sun behind it) appears very dark. The same tornado, viewed with the sun at the observer's back, may appear gray or brilliant white. Tornadoes which occur near the time of sunset can be many different colors, appearing in hues of yellow, orange, and pink.
Dust kicked up by the winds of the parent thunderstorm, heavy rain and hail, and the darkness of night are all factors which can reduce the visibility of tornadoes. Tornadoes occurring in these conditions are especially dangerous, since only weather radar observations, or possibly the sound of an approaching tornado, serve as any warning to those in the storm's path. Most significant tornadoes form under the storm's updraft base, which is rain-free, making them visible. Also, most tornadoes occur in the late afternoon, when the bright sun can penetrate even the thickest clouds. Night-time tornadoes are often illuminated by frequent lightning.
There is mounting evidence, including Doppler On Wheels mobile radar images and eyewitness accounts, that most tornadoes have a clear, calm center with extremely low pressure, akin to the eye of tropical cyclones. Lightning is said to be the source of illumination for those who claim to have seen the interior of a tornado.
Sound and seismology
Tornadoes emit widely on the acoustics spectrum and the sounds are caused by multiple mechanisms. Various sounds of tornadoes have been reported, mostly related to familiar sounds for the witness and generally some variation of a whooshing roar. Popularly reported sounds include a freight train, rushing rapids or waterfall, a nearby jet engine, or combinations of these. Many tornadoes are not audible from much distance; the nature and propagation distance of the audible sound depends on atmospheric conditions and topography.
The winds of the tornado vortex and of constituent turbulent eddies, as well as airflow interaction with the surface and debris, contribute to the sounds. Funnel clouds also produce sounds. Funnel clouds and small tornadoes are reported as whistling, whining, humming, or the buzzing of innumerable bees or electricity, or more or less harmonic, whereas many tornadoes are reported as a continuous, deep rumbling, or an irregular sound of "noise".
Since many tornadoes are audible only when very near, sound is not reliable warning of a tornado. Tornadoes are also not the only source of such sounds in severe thunderstorms; any strong, damaging wind, a severe hail volley, or continuous thunder in a thunderstorm may produce a roaring sound.
Tornadoes also produce identifiable inaudible infrasonic signatures.
Unlike audible signatures, tornadic signatures have been isolated; due to the long distance propagation of low-frequency sound, efforts are ongoing to develop tornado prediction and detection devices with additional value in understanding tornado morphology, dynamics, and creation.Tornadoes also produce a detectable seismic signature, and research continues on isolating it and understanding the process.
WHO’S MOST AT RISK?
People in automobiles.
The elderly, very young and the physically or mentally impaired.
People in mobile homes.
People who may not understand the warning due to a language barrier.
How do I prepare for tornadoes?
Know the terms used to describe tornado threats.
TORNADO WATCH - Tornadoes are possible. Stay tuned to radio or television reports
TORNADO WARNING - A tornado has been sighted. Take shelter immediately.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH - Severe thunderstorms are possible.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING - Severe thunderstorms are occurring.
Purchase a NOAA Weather Radio with battery backup and tone-alert feature which automatically alerts you when a Watch or Warning is issued. Purchase a battery-powered commercial radio and extra batteries as well.
Determine places to seek shelter. If an underground shelter is not available, identify an interior room or hallway on the lowest floor.
Practice going to your shelter with your family.
Know the locations of designated shelters in places where you and your family spend time, such as public buildings, nursing homes and shopping centers.
Have emergency supplies on hand.
Make an inventory of your possessions. Take photographs of or videotape your belongings.
What should I do during a tornado?
When a tornado has been sighted, go to your shelter immediately. Stay away from windows, doors and outside walls.
In a house or small building, go to the basement or storm cellar. If there is no basement, go to an interior room on the lower level (closets, interior hallways). Get under a sturdy table, hold on and protect your head. Stay there until the danger has passed.
In a school, nursing home, hospital, factory or shopping center, go to predesignated shelter areas. Interior hallways on the lowest floor are usually safest. Stay away from windows and open spaces.
In a high-rise building, go to a small, interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
In a vehicle, trailer or mobile home, get out immediately and go to a more substantial structure.
If there is no shelter nearby, lie flat in the nearest ditch, ravine or culvert with your hands shielding your head.
In a car, get out and take shelter in a nearby building. Do not attempt to out-drive a tornado. They are erratic and move swiftly.
What should I do after a tornado?
Look out for broken glass and downed power lines.
Check for injuries. Do not attempt to move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger of death or further injury.
The Israel forces on their mission to help Philippines. They set a Medical Camp to accommodate the victims of typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. They start helping the victims by giving them medical treatment. Assessing everyone's health from infants, children, and adults.
By Drory Nadav
The U.S 3rd Marines for providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. They sets up for the big challenge ahead of what is left by the super typhoon.
Source: AiirSource
A lot of people are in the Central Tacloban were heavily affected by the typhoon that are mostly near the sea, and many of the roads are now operable and a lot of debris are everywhere.
"THANK YOU FOR REACHING OUT"
TO ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT HELPED THE PHILIPPINES, AND TO ALL FILIPINO'S AROUND THE WORLD. A BIG THANK YOU FOR YOUR BIG HEART IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION.]
Tacloban Philippines, One of the most powerful storm ever recorded killed at least 3,000 Thousand people in the central philippines, with hughes waves sweeping the coastal villages and devastating one of the main cities of the Region.
Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structure in it's path as it tore through to Leyte provinces,before weakening and heading West for Vietnam. As Rescue workers struggled to reach the ravaged villages along the coast, where death toll is as yet unknown. Survivors foraged for food or searched for the lost love ones. Check the latest Images of the typhoon Yolanda. Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that may said resembled a tsunami.
Tacloban City Airport was all but destroyed as sea waters swept through the city, shattering the glass of the airport tower levelling the terminal and overturning nearby vehicles.
Source: Reuters
You can watch the latest video clip and Full Coverage of the huge damage of typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the nearby cities below:
Typhoon Haiyan : One of the strongest storms ever recorded, strikes the Philippines with a gusts of up to 200mph (320km/h).
More the 12 million are at risk from the storm, including Cebu, The country's second largest city.
Tacloban Leyte is the most affected area in the Region.
Schools and Offices are closed with ferry services and local flights suspended. Hospitals and soldiers are put in stand-by.Millions of people in vulnerable are forced to seek shelter across 20 provinces.
Source: BBC News Asia
ABS-CBN NEWS
News Caster ATOM ARAULLO during his Live coverage at Tacloban city. Despite the danger ahead of him.
More of the typhoon watch the Full coverage Here: WATCH HERE: WATCH HERE: WATCH HERE: WAIT FOR 5 SECS COUNTDOWN AT THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF YOUR SCREEN AND PRESS SKIP ADS
Stay tuned for more news on the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan.
