Tornado

In the last several weeks, Ben has become VERY interested in tornadoes. He has been learning about them through books and websites. Here are some links to his favorite sites:

Dan's Wild Weather Page
Storm Chaser's Tornado Handbook
Grow Your Own Tornado


He would like to say a few about tornadoes here:

"I like tornadoes now! They are so cool. It is like a vacuum coming down from the sky. And sometimes they form over water and make "waterspouts." Sometimes there could be more than one tornado in a storm. They are so awesome. Why I like them is because I have a new game called Pocket Tanks. And it has a weapon depot with new weapons and there is a new weapon called "Tornado." And I was so excited that I just had to like tornadoes."

The Fujita Tornado Scale (in Ben's own words):

"F0 Tornado is the weakest tornado ever. It doesn't hardly do any damage or sucking.

F1 Tornado might do more damage and might suck a little bit, but not very much.

F2 Tornadoes are a little bit more suckier. They could blow off all our trees and make your car go upside down and rip off a little bit of boards, but its OK.

F3 Tornadoes could rip off your roof and cut down trees. They might throw your car away and suck up your cows and blow down signs, but that's mostly the damage that they do.

F4 are so strong because they could a little bit damage your house and probably blow down your signs, but they probably will leave the floor of your house there.

F5 are sooooo strong that sometimes when there are F5 tornadoes they are so powerful if they go over a tree it sucks it right up. And if it touches your car your car will go flying. And if it touches your house your house will just be wood."

Since the age of 4, whenever we ask Ben what he wants to be when he grows up, he says "Everything." His plan is to do something for one month, and then move on to the next career. His short list includes doctor, news reporter, weatherman, firefighter, and now, storm chaser is added to the list. He told me today he wants to live in Kansas because they have a lot of tornadoes there.

Let's hope the tornado phase passes quickly!