How do tornadoes form step by step

There are two important aspects needed in the formation of a tornado, geography and rotation. The formation and life cycle of tornadoes can be explained in a series of stages:

Stage 1 - Storm development

Sun's energy heats the ground which in turn heats the air near ground level.

Localised pockets of air become warmer than their surroundings and begin to rise.

Where these warm bubbles of air (thermals) rise to sufficient height, shallow cumulus clouds develop.

If the temperature in the surrounding atmosphere decreases rapidly with height (an unstable atmosphere), the warm bubbles may rise to much greater heights, resulting in the development of much deeper, stronger currents of ascending air (updraughts) and associated deep cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds (i.e.

thunder clouds).

Stage 2 - Storm organisation

When the above process occurs in an environment where winds increase strongly with height (strong vertical wind shear), the thunderstorm updraught may begin to rotate.

This happens because the strong wind shear creates a horizontal spin i

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