TORNADOES can strike - and have struck - communities in every section of the continental United States and in many areas of Canada and the rest of the world. These mose violent storms of nature do, however, occur more frequently in the central section of the U.S. and during the months of april, May and June.
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Twisters are most likely to form on a hot, sticky day between 3 and 7 p.m. An hour or two before this happens, the up-to-that-time familiar thunderstorm clouds may begin to have a peculiar greenish hue and bulge down instead of up. Heavy rains and then hail often precede the actual tornado.
These gigantic whirlwinds almost always march across the countryside from southwest to northeast at about 30 miles per hour and this predictability can save your life.
Take shelter, if at all possible, in the southwest corner of a basement, storm cellar, cave or excavation. In town - when no such shelter is available - huddle under heavy furniture or in an interior doorway of a steel-framed or reinforced-concrete building. Stay away from windows, although it is a good idea to leave a few of them open.
If you spot tornado out in the open, move away from its path at a right angle. When there's no time for such evasion, immediately flattern out in the nearest ditch or depression.
HALOS around the sun or moon signal the approach of a warm front anf the possibility of a warm front and the possibility of slow, steady precipitation.
CIRRUS: Very wispy, feathery clouds which form at great heights. Due to this altitude, cirrus are the first clouds to color before sunrise and the last to darken at sunset.
CIRROSTRATUS: Veil the sky with the thin, overall whitish haze which produces a halo around the sun or moon. Cirrostratus clouds with wispy, defined edges are often called "mares tails".
CIRROCUMULUS: Resemble cirrus clouds but are sort of tufted or rippled like sand on a beach. Cirrocumulus are clouds of the "mackerel sky".
ALTOSTRATUS: Similar to cirrostratus, but more dense. This denseness causes the soft-edged corona around the sun or moon.
BIRDS fly higher during high pressure (fair sky) weather and lower prior to a storm.
The heart of this do-it-yourself rain gauge is one of those plastic "test tubes" in which some brands of toothbrushes are packaged. Or an extra-tall vial. Or any discarded pipe-like container with a diameter of at least three-quarters inch and a length of six inches of more.
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