A tornado swept across the Matador (a town with a small population in northwestern Texas) on Wednesday, June 21. According to officials, the Texas tornado tragedy killed four people, wounded numerous more, and damaged at least a dozen structures. Aside from the physical impairment, the economic and emotional consequences of the injury are also enormous.

Credit: CHUYN

What is a Tornado?

The most dangerous storms in nature are tornadoes. A tornado’s winds can gust as high as 300 miles per hour. Damage tracks can be 50 miles long and more than one mile broad. A tornado is a powerful and destructive atmospheric phenomenon characterized by a rapidly rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister or a cyclone. Tornadoes can vary in size and intensity, ranging from small and weak funnels to large and violent storms.

Tornadoes typically form within severe thunderstorms when certain atmospheric conditions align. These conditions include a warm and moist air mass near the ground, a strong change in wind speed and direction with height (wind shear), and instability in the atmosphere. When these factors come together, they can create a rotating updraft within a storm, which can then stretch and intensify into a tornado.

While some tornadoes are obscured by adjacent low-hanging clouds or rain, others may be seen plainly. Tornadoes are commonly associated with a distinctive funnel-shaped cloud that descends from the base of a storm cloud. This funnel is formed by the condensation of moisture within the rotating column of air. The size and shape of tornadoes can vary widely, from thin and rope-like to wide and wedge-shaped. They can also vary in duration, ranging from a few seconds to several hours, although the average lifespan of a tornado is typically around 10 to 15 minutes.  Tornadoes may form very swiftly and dissipate almost as quickly.

Texas Tornado Situation

The 2020 census estimates that Matador, which is 70 miles northeast of Lubbock and will have 570 inhabitants, would have no electricity as of early Thursday. According to the weather service list, there were 11 reports of tornadoes in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming.

The National Weather Service estimates that the tornado’s path was up to 880 yards wide and more than 6 miles long. They assert that the tornado’s effect occurred at the same time as the heat wave that devastated a significant percentage of the region. It was the climax of days’ worth of brutal heat and storms that had wreaked havoc on the majority of Texas and parts of Oklahoma. The simultaneous occurrence of fatal tornadoes, hurricane-force winds, and softball-sized hail is definitely unprecedented, according to a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lubbock, Texas,

The tornado was forecast to go east of the town, but in the space of five minutes, it completely reversed course, turned, and sped straight into Matador. The residents had perhaps two minutes’ notice before they needed to gather and flee for safety. Matador had damage to homes, destroyed structures, and severed power lines. State resources are in Matador for post-disaster activities, and agencies from around the area are aiding search and rescue efforts.

According to scientists, heat wave frequency and other extreme weather events have increased as a result of climate change.

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