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Crew member
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can you stop a tornado from starting by stopping the cloud from touching the ground?
I would like to know
 
Posts: 4 | Location (where you live): UK | Registered: 10 March 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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Picture of jaap
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How would that work?

When a tornado forms, the descending funnel from the cloud simply shows how the air moves, and hence where the tornado is developing. It is only when it goes down to the ground that it really is called a tornado.

So your question is in a way kind of trivial - if it didn't reach the ground, it wouldn't be a tornado.

If you're asking, can a nascent tornado be stopped, the answer is no. There is simply no way to get rid of the huge amount of kinetic energy in all that moving air.
 
Posts: 266 | Location (where you live): Netherlands | Registered: 03 November 2006Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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I mean like putting somthing in the clouds path so the cloud can't touch the ground/has to seperate to touch the ground
 
Posts: 4 | Location (where you live): UK | Registered: 10 March 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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The descending cloud is not really the important part of a tornado. The column of rotating air is.

Think of it like stirring a cup of tea. The tea goes around, and begins to dip in the middle. The dip is an effect of the rotating fluid. In the same way the cloud funnel is an effect of the rotating air column. Trying to stop the cloud coming down is treating a symptom, not the actual disease.

You couldn't stop a tornado from forming if you put a big horizontal platform up in the air in an attempt to stop the descending cloud. You'ld instead need to put up a huge vertical barrier, to stop the swirling motion of the air. Maybe a small mountain range would be enough.
 
Posts: 266 | Location (where you live): Netherlands | Registered: 03 November 2006Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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What if you had something big enough to gyrate in the opposite direction, could that cause a tornado to stop? I know it would be very difficult to try beacuse of the massive wind energy, but it does make you wonder though. Confused


Life ain't short.... it lasts a life time.
 
Posts: 21 | Location (where you live): St.Albert, Albetra. Canada (In my house...not yours) | Registered: 27 November 2006Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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