Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Meet the sneaky and surprisingly dangerous squall-line tornado’ 

A truck is parked in the foreground, with a large storm system in the background.

In 2022 and 2023, PERiLS researchers deployed across the southeastern United States used a fleet of instruments to capture a trove of data on squall-line tornadoes. Mobile Mesonet vehicles (shown) took surface measurements of temperature, pressure, humidity, wind and solar radiation.

Michael Coniglio, NOAA NSSL

By Science News Explores

To accompany ‘Meet the sneaky and surprisingly dangerous squall-line tornado’  

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. What is a tornado? To the best of your knowledge, explain how a tornado forms. Sketch a picture to support your explanation.
  2. What are two things about tornadoes that make them dangerous? Give one example of modern technology that helps keep people safe from tornadoes. Explain how not having this technology could affect people’s safety.

During Reading:

  1. What is the relationship between supercells and tornadoes?
  2. How do squall-line tornadoes differ from supercell tornadoes in terms of how they form?
  3. How do squall-line tornadoes differ from supercell tornadoes in terms of how frequently they are detected?
  4. What does PERiLS stand for?
  5. List the three weather-related requirements for “whipping up a tornado.”
  6. Describe the weather phenomenon known as wind shear.
  7. Use a complete sentence to explain the meaning of convective available potential energy, or CAPE. What units do researchers use to measure CAPE values?
  8. In March 2022, atmospheric scientist Anthony Lyza surveyed severe tornado damage in Noxubee County, Miss. Besides the extent of the damage, what other surprising observation did he make regarding the tornado’s path?
  9. What does it mean when a tornado has multiple vortices, or subvortices?
  10. What is the ice-skater effect? Why is the ice-skater effect relevant when describing tornado formation within mesovortices?

After Reading:

  1. Refer to your answer to Question 1 in Before Reading. After reading this story, what changes would you make to your answer? If you would make no changes, explain how the information in this story supports your previous answer. If you would make changes, explain how your understanding of tornadoes has altered.
  2. Write down one specific thing researchers learned about squall-line tornadoes as described in this story. What measurements allowed researchers to develop this new understanding of tornadoes? How might this knowledge help people in the future?