ATLANTA - 19 Apr 2017: While tornadoes touch down during every month of the year, spring months see the most on average in the United States. With the heightened likelihood of tornadic activity, The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM), looks to better inform people to help them prepare ahead of time to keep themselves and their families safe during severe weather. This spring, The Weather Channel website weather.com has created a weather explainer showing the anatomy and creation of a tornado.
Check out a 360 VR experience from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, to learn more about the science behind the creation of a tornado. The Weather Channel digital team offers a 360 virtual reality interaction and article to take you inside the birth of a tornado. (Credit: The Weather Company)
This 360 virtual reality (VR) interaction allows viewers to experience a tornado from the inside while learning how a tornado forms. The experience uses progressive enhancement web design strategy to make web content accessible and functional using any browser or Internet connection. So users can follow the birth of a tornado whether on desktop, tablet or mobile screens, or using either WebVR or polyfilled VR devices.
Four ingredients combine to help form tornadoes: shear, lift instability and moisture, or SLIM:
Shear - Tornadogenesis needs two types of wind shear. Vertical wind shear, changes in wind speed with height, helps spark a rotational column and tilts storms, which allows updrafts and downdrafts to form. Directional wind shear, changes in wind direction with height, pulls in different types of air mass to support tornado and thunderstorm growth.
Lift - A storm can become more severe when air rises faster. Different sources can force air upward and increase a storm's ability to grow and strengthen due to a density change. Sources of lift include cold or warm fronts, dry lines, sea breezes and mountain ranges.
Instability - When the temperature warms as height increases, the atmosphere is stable and clouds will be unable to grow. Instability occurs when air can move up freely into the atmosphere. Most winter or some spring storm systems lack heat, so instability limits them from producing larger severe weather outbreaks.
Moisture - the more moisture available for storms to form, the more buoyant their environment will be and the more they can grow. Moisture feeds include the Gulf of Mexico and storm systems that move across the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains
Thunderstorms can form whenever the ground is heated and the air is moist, but storms that form in the warm, soupy air that precedes storm systems are generally more likely to produce tornadoes. Tornadogenesis is an evolving field of study, but while some tornadoes occur within lines of severe thunderstorms, most violent or significant tornadoes come from supercells although most supercells do not produce tornadoes. Supercells are thunderstorms that can last for hours in environments conducive to letting the storm breathe and grow.
When vertical wind shear is intense near the surface, it creates a rolling tube of air that is parallel to the ground, The Weather Company meteorologist Jonathan Belles explains. When lifted vertically, the rotating tube acts as a suction vacuum bringing up air, and that air falls as rain in areas surrounding and ahead of the strongest part of the storm. This is like the lungs of a thunderstorm that will keep breathing until the storm cannot breathe any longer. This is what makes a cell a supercell.
Learn more about how a tornado forms, and experience the VR interaction at weather.com. Developers can also view this article to get a behind-the-scenes look at a case study and what it took to create this WebVR experience.
Tornadoes can have winds from 70-200 mph and are rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which estimates wind damage done to structures, cars or the ground. Tornadoes can be extremely destructive and deadly. It's important to know when the environment is right for a possible tornado to form. Be sure to check weather.com or wunderground.com for the latest weather information and notifications nearby. Tornado Central by weather.com also features radar and areas under threat of severe weather, as well as news, photos and safety and preparedness tips.
The Weather Company, an IBM Business
The Weather Company, an IBM Business, is the world s largest private weather enterprise, helping people make informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. The company offers the most accurate, personalized and actionable weather data and insights to millions of consumers and thousands of businesses via Weather's API, its business solutions division, and its own digital products from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com).
The company delivers billions of forecasts daily. Its products include a top weather app on all major mobile platforms globally; the world's largest network of personal weather stations; a top-20 U.S. website; the seventh most data-rich site in the world; one of the world's largest IoT data platforms; and industry-leading business solutions.
Weather Means Business . The world's biggest brands in aviation, energy, insurance, media, and government rely on The Weather Company for data, technology platforms and services to help improve decision-making and respond to weather's impact on business. For more, visit www.theweathercompany.com.
Most recent headlines
17/02/2025
TVBEurope talks to the team who brought a piece of broadcasting history back to life on BBC Wales last night
By Jenny Priestley
Published: February 14, 2025 ...
17/02/2025
Eligible studios will receive the relief directly from their local authorities, with no need to submit a claim
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 17, 20...
17/02/2025
As DEI initiatives come under pressure in the USA, supporters of Rise, which promotes diversity in the media and entertainment sector, discuss the continuing im...
17/02/2025
EIB Global loan will partially fund SES's continued O3b mPOWER medium earth orbit (MEO) fleet expansion enabling additional capacity worldwide. O3b mPOWER s...
15/02/2025
At Nielsen, Business Resource Groups (BRGs) play a critical role in nurturing a ...
15/02/2025
Innovation to empower creativity: Explore the latest in Lightroom
Rob Christensen February 15, 2025
0 Comments
Whether you want to remove distracting ...
15/02/2025
Wisycom, a worldwide leader in RF technology and provider of wireless solutions, announces a new distribution agreement with EQUAPHON. An Argentinian profession...
15/02/2025
DPA Microphones, the leading manufacturer of high-quality microphone solutions, is pleased to welcome Nicholas Nick Mariano and Vincent Vince Divine to the ...
15/02/2025
Tuxera, a leading provider of quality-assured file systems and networking solutions, will showcase how Tuxera Fusion SMB enables unprecedented performance for m...
15/02/2025
Bitmovin's latest Video Developer Report indicates an increasing role of AI, the slow adoption of next-generation codecs, and continuing challenges when it ...
15/02/2025
When Michelin Enterprises set out to promote its prestigious Hotel Guide in the new Sleepless in the Kitchen , campaign, veteran German/Slovenian gaffer Robert...
15/02/2025
Formula E, the world's first all-electric racing series, revolutionizing motorsport with cutting-edge technology and a commitment to sustainability has sele...
15/02/2025
Agile Content, a global leader in TV and video technology solutions, announces its rebranding to AgileTV.
The transition to AgileTV stems from a commitment to ...
15/02/2025
Hiltron Communications will promote the latest additions to its range of satellite communication products, systems and supporting services at GovSatCom 2025. Th...
15/02/2025
Following the success of the original Airglow Booklight, DoPchoice debuts a new addition to their inflatable line the Float. This lightweight, inflatable, round...
15/02/2025
LAS VEGAS Marshall Electronics has announced that it will debut its newest camera controller, the RCP Plus, at the 2025 NAB Show at Booth N2649 between April 5 ...
15/02/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Blake Sebo as the next general manager of KTUU and KYES, Gray's NBC and CBS affiliates in Anchorage, Alaska....
15/02/2025
KOKKEDAL, Denmark DPA Microphones will feature its new CORE+ technology for distortion-free microphone sound at the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, in Las Vegas....
15/02/2025
SWANSEA, U.K. QuickLink will launch StudioPro-NDI and StudioPro-3, two new models of its QuickLine StudioPro video production platform, at the 2025 NAB Show, Ap...
15/02/2025
Live From 2025 NBA All-Star Game Weekend: After 25 Years, Turner Sports All-In F...
15/02/2025
NASCAR Driver Cam on Max Embraces Cloud-Based Workflow for 2025 Season Chris Brown of WBD Sports says Mobii will play key part in delivering signals from the tr...
14/02/2025
Last month, we officially launched the Spotify Partner Program, a powerful new m...
14/02/2025
From an island off the coast of Lutruwita to the global stage in France SBS & ...
14/02/2025
The future of electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) land systems is evolving so that ...
14/02/2025
Here are 5 reasons why you should attend ISE 2025
Discover more about Calrec: Learn more about Calrec's legacy of innovation in broadcast audio solutions ...
14/02/2025
World Radio Day: On the same wavelength
By Graham Murray, International Sales Manager at Calrec
To mark World Radio Day, Calrec's International Sales Ma...
14/02/2025
DALLAS and TYSONS, Va. Tegna has concluded a broadcast rights agreement that makes Tegna's KFAA in Dallas the exclusive local television partner of the Dall...
14/02/2025
Amazon's Prime Video has released a new app for Apple TV that the streamer said delivers an improved streaming experiences with faster scrolling, improved s...
14/02/2025
CLEVELAND Telos Alliance announced a software update for its Axia Quasar XR and SR line of audio-over-IP (AoIP) mixing consoles and will show the offering at th...
14/02/2025
Puget Systems Returns to HPA Tech Retreat 2025 with New Analysis Tools for Puge...
14/02/2025
Glass Animals: Tour of Earth Uses Blackmagic Live Production Workflow
Brie Clayton February 14, 2025
0 Comments
80six deploys Blackmagic URSA Broadcas...
14/02/2025
A dispute between Paramount and Youtube TV that would have pulled CBS stations and Paramount's cable channels from the streaming service has been temporaril...
14/02/2025
Colourist Deidre (Dee) McClelland details how she helped shape the distinct look and feel of whimsical Oscar-nominated stop-motion film, Memoir of a Snail
By C...
14/02/2025
BitFire said it intends to introduce forward-looking services that simplify the launch of live production workflows, and enhance real-time collaboration
By Jen...
14/02/2025
The claim by the liquidators is the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the companys collapse at the end of 2021
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 14, ...
14/02/2025
A carriage dispute between YouTube TV and Paramount could come to a head today (Feb. 13), with the virtual pay TV provider threatening to pull all of the progra...
14/02/2025
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. LG Electronics USA has opened a new in-house, state-of-the-art virtual production studio at its 360,000-square-foot North American headqu...
14/02/2025
NEW YORK In a bid to help local broadcasters find new ways of monetizing their content, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and TVB have relea...
14/02/2025
WASHINGTON Three Democratic U.S. Senators have sent a stern letter blasting FCC Chair Brendan Carr for the weaponization of the agency for attacking broadcast...
14/02/2025
Years after launching the streaming service Apple TV+ in November of 2019, Apple has finally released a version of its steaming app for Android devices....
14/02/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. Red Digital Cinema will make its V-RAPTOR [X] and KOMODO-X camera systems available with Nikon's premier Z Mount, providing filmmaker...
14/02/2025
DAYTONA, Fla. The Fox Sports production of this year's Daytona 500 will see the addition of a few new tech elements and the continued unfolding of the broad...
14/02/2025
Watch Bryson Battles Blind Audition on The Voice Get a Four-Chair Turn Michael Bubl said the Boston Conservatory at Berklee musical theater senior might have...
14/02/2025
2025 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Looks To Ride Super Bowl LIX Momentum Into NASCAR S...
14/02/2025
14 Feb 2025
VEON's Kyivstar and the Come Back Alive Foundation Raise USD 2....
14/02/2025
Max Renews THE PITT, Starring Noah Wyle, For A Second Season
Max
Warner Bros. Television Group
The Pitt
New Episodes Of The Medical Drama From John...
14/02/2025
This year, Technicolor proudly celebrates 110 years of shaping the magic of cinema pioneering color, visual effects, and innovation that bring unforgettable l...
14/02/2025
NBA All-Star: More Games, More Teams, More Music, More Sound From the Court Turner Sports' team will deploy familiar tech to capture all the audio By Dan D...
14/02/2025
LIV Golf Continues To Innovate With Drones, Data-Driven Graphics, and All-Access...
ATLANTA - 19 Apr 2017: While tornadoes touch down during every month of the year, spring months see the most on average in the United States. With the heightened likelihood of tornadic activity, The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM), looks to better inform people to help them prepare ahead of time to keep themselves and their families safe during severe weather. This spring, The Weather Channel website weather.com has created a weather explainer showing the anatomy and creation of a tornado.
