Tornadoes are rapidly rotating columns of air that extend from the base of a convective cloud, typically a supercell thunderstorm, to the ground, characterized by intense vertical vorticity and a tight pressure gradient. They form through the tilting and stretching of environmental wind shear, often involving a mesocyclone and low-level instability in the presence of strong updrafts and moisture. Their dynamics are governed by conservation of angular momentum, interactions between downdrafts and near-surface vorticity, and complex microphysical and thermodynamic processes. Tornado intensity and damage potential are quantified using scales such as the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale based on observed structural impacts.
When a powerful EF-4 tornado tore through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 24, 2023, social media became a critical tool for sharing weather warnings, damage reports and recovery information. But a new study from University ...
Environment
Jul 8, 2026
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The death toll from devastating storms in parts of China rose to 15 on Tuesday, with hundreds more injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported, as President Xi Jinping urged "all-out" rescue efforts.
Environment
Jul 7, 2026
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Tropical Storm Arthur was downgraded to a low pressure area along the upper Texas coast Wednesday night but forecasters expected its remnants to bring life-threatening flooding and days of heavy rains to parts of the southeastern ...
Environment
Jun 18, 2026
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9
A disorganized cluster of storms that had been plaguing the Gulf Coast for days came together to form Tropical Storm Arthur on Wednesday—the first tropical cyclone of the season in the Atlantic basin.
Environment
Jun 17, 2026
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The strongest of several twisters to touch down in the southern part of the state in early May 2026 left a visible path of damaged vegetation.
Environment
May 22, 2026
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An artificial intelligence (AI) tool built by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) can help forecasters look further into the future as they work to identify the potential ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2026
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Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be.
Environment
Mar 13, 2026
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From tornadoes and hurricanes to wildfires and floods, weather and climate disasters cause billions of dollars in damage, on top of their steep human toll. Those costs could rise sharply in the years ahead, according to a ...
Environment
Feb 24, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Kansas have shown the National Severe Storms Laboratory's Warn-on-Forecast System (WoFS) has potential to help weather forecasters issue warnings to emergency managers and the general public ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 27, 2026
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Combing through 20 years of images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft, scientists have tracked 1,039 tornado-like whirlwinds to reveal how dust is lifted into the air and ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 8, 2025
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