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Tornado, a sudden disaster weather, is relatively common in some areas, and for most people, understanding tornado may begin with an animation "The Wizard of Oz" in childhood.
In the animation, the tornado brought the little girl to a fantasy world, but in reality, the place where the tornado passed was often the house falling down. Most people may never see a tornado with their own eyes, but there is a mini version of "tornado" that often appears beside us, and basically everyone has seen it. Sometimes, we will see dust wrapped in leaves and garbage spinning from the ground, sometimes it will dissipate naturally when it reaches only a few tens of centimeters, and sometimes it can reach several meters high. When children see such a wind column, they will jump into it unconsciously, hoping to be taken off into the sky by it. However, many people don’t know that it is dangerous to do so, because it may really roll you up and lead to disaster.
What exactly is this mini tornado? It actually has its own name, which is the difference between "tornado" and "dust storm".
There is a certain relationship between dust storms and tornadoes, because they both belong to "cyclones" in essence. Tornadoes can lead to the collapse of houses, and dusty winds can sometimes lead to disasters. For example, there was an incident in Gansu where primary school students were blown into the air by dusty winds, and a cruise ship was overturned by dusty winds in Beihai Park in Beijing, so don’t think that the "small whirlwind" around you is cute, and maybe it will really take you to the sky at some time.
Why does a small dust storm have such great power? This should also start from the cause of the dust storm. There is a word difference between a dust storm and a tornado, and both of them are cyclones, and their external manifestations are extremely similar, but they are not the same thing, because their causes are different, and the difference in their power is also derived from this.
There is a direct relationship between the formation of tornado and the temperature change of the ground. When the temperature and humidity of the ground are high, water will absorb heat from the ground, which will be gasified into water vapor. After water becomes water vapor, it will rise rapidly due to the decrease of density. After reaching a certain height, water vapor will condense into water droplets due to the decrease of temperature, and then fall in the form of rain.
Different from ordinary rainfall, because the surface temperature is too high, the water droplets absorb heat continuously in the process of falling, and rise again as steam. In this repeated process, the pressure difference between the ground and the pre-layer increases, and the surrounding gas moves towards the center at high speed, so a powerful cyclone is formed, which is a tornado. Although most people have never seen a tornado, typhoons are relatively common, and the wind speed of a super typhoon can reach 51 meters per second, while the wind speed of a tornado is higher than that of a super typhoon, which can reach 100 meters per second. No wonder everything on the ground will rise up by it.
What is the difference between the causes of dust storms and tornadoes? Although they look very similar from the outside, they are not without differences. Tornadoes usually run through the heavens and the earth, that is, the lower part is connected to the ground, while the upper part is connected to the bottom of the clouds, but the dust wind is not. Although the dust wind starts from the ground, there is no connection above it, and this external difference stems from its different causes.
The formation of dust storm is also related to the ground warming. The difference is that there is no participation of water and steam here. When the local temperature of the ground is too high, the peripheral air will flow quickly to the center due to heating, and this rotation from the periphery to the center will be strengthened at the center, thus forming a whirlwind with a certain degree. So how powerful can this whirlwind be? The powerful dust storm, its wind power can reach more than 7, and sometimes even close to 10. Faced with such a dusty wind, if people or things happen to be in it, they may be taken into the air, and falling from the air again may cause casualties and property losses.
Has the dust storm caused any serious disasters? Yes, and there are many examples. The most recent incident happened in Shangqiu, Henan Province on March 31, 2019. At that time, an inflatable trampoline in the playground was carried into the air by dust, and children playing in the trampoline fell from the air. This incident caused 20 injuries and 2 children died.
Can a little dust storm make such a big disaster? How can we prevent it? Dust wind is a sudden weather, which is basically unpredictable in advance, but it is not impossible to prevent. First of all, just stay away from it and don’t join in the fun, so as long as the dust wind doesn’t rise from your feet, there will be no danger. Secondly, it is necessary to strengthen the ground facilities. The power of the dust storm is actually limited. If the trampoline can be fixed on the ground with ropes in Shangqiu incident, it is impossible to be taken away.
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