They're big,
they're scary
and they can carry cars,
cows
and even a couple of houses.
They can range from a simple dust storm,
to a force that can wipe out an entire town.
Unfortunately, the latter is coming for you.
This is a tornado.
Normally you'd take cover and hide,
or try to run from it.
But instead,
we're skydiving into it.
Woohooooo!!!
Unlike most natural disasters,
being caught in the middle of a tornado
is actually survivable.
There have been multiple reports
from people who were caught
inside the eye of a tornado
and have walked away without any injuries.
Tornadoes are most likely to occur in Tornado Alley,
a stretch of land in the midwestern United States.
They form when cool, dry air from Canada
and hot, moist air from Mexico
clash together to create a vicious storm,
which eventually becomes a tornado.
The wind in a tornado
can be up to nearly 500 km/h (310 mph)
and it's diameter can be as wide as 5 kilometers (3 miles).
So let's jump into this thing.
Alright, you're now inside of a tornado.
If you manage to keep yourself from vomiting,
as you're hurled and spun around within these violent winds,
you'll quickly notice a couple of things that happen when you're inside a tornado.
The first thing you'll probably notice
would be the temperature change.
Inside a tornado,
it's 15-20° C (27-36° F) colder than it would be outside.
That's due to wind
constantly being funneled into the center of the vortex.
The funneling will not only make it much colder,
but it will also make the air much thinner
than what you're used to.
Researchers estimate that the density of the air
would be 20% lower
than what's found at high altitudes.
To put this in perspective,
breathing in a tornado
would be the equivalent
of breathing at an altitude of 8,000 m (26,246.72 ft).
At that level, you generally need assistance to be able to breathe.
So let's hope you don't stay in here long.
If you do, you'll quickly pass out.
Let's give you a special mask, so you don't have to worry about breathing.
Another thing you'll notice
is just how smooth the airflow inside a tornado is.
Storm watchers that have
briefly been inside a tornado observed that
despite it looking like a crazy mess of wind and clouds from the outside,
the air in the eye of the tornado
is actually quite smooth.
But don't expect a nice peaceful ride while you're inside this thing.
Sure, maybe it would feel like nothing else existed on Earth,
but unfortunately, that's not the case.
And it wouldn't just be a party of one in this tornado.
There would be tons of other debris within it.
Glass, wood, bricks
and even entire objects like houses and cars.
And let's not forget about those cows.
With the tornado continually picking up other debris,
it would be pretty easy for you to get hit by something.
And remember, these objects would be spinning at nearly 500 km/h (310 mph).
So unless you get out of this thing quickly,
or happen to be incredibly lucky,
you'll most likely get hit by debris
and become severely injured or die.
But if you manage to survive all that,
the tornado will eventually dissipate.
This is due to cool air entering the vortex.
Now the tornado is gone,
and you can pop your parachute,
and you're free!
Keep in mind, it's basically impossible
for this to happen and for you to survive.
You'll have a much higher chance of surviving
if you manage to avoid the tornado
and seek some sort of shelter.
But what if we could nuke tornadoes, and stop them altogether?
That sounds like a story for another WHAT IF.