The Science and Mystery of the Twin Tornadoes That Hit Nebraska

The twin tornadoes that leveled the small town of Pilger, Nebraska on Monday, killing two and injuring nearly two dozen, were a horrifying, relatively rare phenomenon. One of the twisters was rated an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Damage Scale, with winds as high as 200 miles per hour

As strong and photogenic as they were, however, the tornadoes were not anywhere close to unprecedented, based on an examination of tornado research and interviews with severe weather experts.

Tornadoes in general are uncommon and extraordinarily complex phenomena, occurring between a few hundred to up to 2,000 times per year in the U.S. There are many things scientists still don’t know about tornadoes. For example, they still don’t know exactly why some severe, rotating thunderstorms, known as supercells, produce tornadoes while other nearly identical storms do not Read more...