Wichita Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Well, it's a fact that Kansas is known for many things - clean living, great lifestyles, and... tornados! Here are some facts and figures about this phenomenal weather pattern.

Tornados occur in many parts of the world and in all 50 states, but no area is more favorable to their formation than the Continental Plains of the United States, and no season is free of tornados. The months of greatest frequency in Kansas are April, May, and June.

Tornados form several thousand feet above the earth's surface, usually during warm, humid, unsettled weather, and usually in conjunction with a severe thunderstorm. Sometimes a severe squall line many miles long may contain a number of tornado-producing thunderstorms. As the parent thunderstorm moves along, tornados may form, travel along in touch with the ground for a few miles, dissipate or lift, and then touch down again - maybe several times!

Your knowledge of these general characteristics of tornados will be useful in your tornado preparedness planning.

TIME OF DAY during which tornados are most likely to occur is mid-afternoon, generally between 3 and 7 p.m., but they have occurred at all times of the day.

DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT is usually from the southwest to the northeast.

LENGTH OF PATH averages four miles, but may reach up to 300 miles.

WIDTH OF PATH averages 300-400 yards, buy tornados have cut swaths a mile or more in width.

SPEED OF TRAVEL averages 25-40 mph, but speeds up to 68 mph have been reported.

THE CLOUD directly associated with a tornado is a dark, heavy cumulonimbus (the familiar thunderstorm cloud) from which a whirling funnel-shaped pendant extends to the ground.

PRECIPITATION associated with the tornado usually occurs first as rain just preceding the storm, frequently with hail, and as a heavy downpour immediately to the left of the tornado's path.

IN OPEN COUNTRY you should lie flat in the nearest depression such as a ditch.

IN A CITY OR TOWN you should seek inside shelter, preferably in a strongly reinforced building. Sitting against the inside wall on a lower floor of an office building offers some protection. In homes, the basement is the safest place. People without basements should find other shelter, preferably in a storm cellar.

In Kansas, tornados are truly rare.

Over the years, the average number of people killed per year is 5. Three times as many as this are killed by lightning. No Kansas tornado is on the country's "worst disaster list". 350 - 500 people are killed in auto accident every year in Kansas. It is rather commonplace for car wrecks and even airplane crashed to occur, often with no or little publicity. But, with tornados, the publicity is way out of proportion to their devastations.

The average time for a tornado to take place is 3 - 7 p.m. Length of path averages at 4 miles, but have gone as far as 300 miles. The width of path averages 300 to 400 yards, but have cut swaths of 1 mile or more. Average speed is 25-40mph, but have gone up to 68mph.

The media gives all kinds of warnings. They show videos of what to do, of what is going on, there are announcements on the radio, sirens are sounding, but people ignore this. They don't believe that they could be in danger. They could take cover, but they usually choose to ignore warnings.

Best to get in a basement or storm cellar. In open country, lie flat in a ditch. Pay attention to warnings!

Each part of the country has elements of danger - no place is a utopia - there are areas exposed to oceans which have hurricanes, California has earthquakes, we have tornados. Learn to take precautions.

• Wichita Weather
• More Tornado Information

Martha Bethel, CRS J.P. Weigand & Sons, Inc. 6530 E. 13th • Wichita, KS 67206 1-800-800-9724 Direct Line (316) 686-1537 Ext. 3221 Office (316) 686-7281

e-mail: Martha@AllAboutWichitaHomes.com