==暴烈的龙卷风要点

暴烈的龙卷风
1."Mother Ship" Cloud
001.“母舰云”
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源： Carsten Peter, National Geographic
A rare mother ship cloud formation hovers over Childress, Texas. Tornado chasers there spent seven hours and 150 miles (240 kilometers) tracking the supercell thunderstorm that produced this cloud formation. Supercell thunderstorms are known to spawn tornadoes with winds exceeding 200 miles an hour (322 kilometers an hour).
德克萨斯州柴尔德里斯上空盘旋着罕见的母舰云体。

那里的龙卷风追风人历经七小时，行程240公里，追逐这个由超级单体雷暴形成的云体，拍下了精彩的图片。

人们已经知道，龙卷风是由超级单体雷暴和时速322公里的大风一起酿成的。

2.Tornado Chasers
002.龙卷风追风人
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源： Carsten Peter, National Geographic
One tornado chaser with a camera poses while his partner gets into their truck as a tornado approaches in South Dakota. South Dakota had 35 tornadoes in 2009, and is part of "Tornado Alley," an area of the Midwest United States that sees more tornadoes than the rest of the country.
龙头风逼近南达科塔时，一名追风人拿着相机拉开了架势，他的同伴上了车。

2009年，南达科塔遭遇了35次龙卷风，成为“龙卷风之路”的一部分，是美国中西部地区见到龙卷风次数最多的地区。

3.Damaged Mobile Home
003.被摧毁的活动房屋
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源：Carsten Peter, National Geographic
Storm-stained skies hover over the remains of a mobile home demolished by a passing tornado. Tornadoes kill about 60 people in the U.S. every year and cause billions of dollars of property damage.
短暂的龙卷风摧毁了一座活动房屋，残骸上空是被风暴浸染的天空。

在美国，龙卷风每年导致约60人死亡，造成数亿美元的财产损失。

4.Tornado Close-Up
004.龙卷风特写镜头
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源：Carsten Peter, National Geographic
A photographer caught this extreme close-up of a tornado funnel in Manchester, South Dakota. The combination of high winds, flying debris, and loud noise of the tornado would have made this photographer very uncomfortable.
一名摄影师在南达科塔曼彻斯特捕捉到这个龙卷风漏斗的特写镜头。

大风、飞扬的瓦砾碎片和龙卷风的巨响交织在一起，使这位摄影师感到很不舒服。

5.Tornado Conditions
005.形成龙卷风的条件
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源：Carsten Peter, National Geographic
Heavy clouds hang low over a dilapidated homestead in the Midwest, foretelling a possible tornado. Tornadoes form when the updrafts of air that supply storms with warm, humid air become a vortex, or high-speed whirlwind.
厚厚的云层低低地悬在中西部残破的宅地上空，预示可能发生龙卷风。

当上升气流与能形成风暴的湿热空气变成高速的旋风时，就形成了龙卷风。

6.Thrown Vehicle
006.抛起汽车
Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic
图片来源：Mike Theiss, National Geographic
An EF5 tornado threw a van into a hotel in Greensburg, Kansas. An EF5 tornado produces winds greater than 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour), and can pick up and throw vehicles and destroy buildings with ease.
堪萨斯州格林斯堡，一场EF5级龙卷风把一辆汽车抛进一个宾馆。

EF5级龙卷风能产生时速超过322公里的大风，轻松地吹起并抛出汽车和毁坏的建筑。

007.海龙卷
Photograph by Daniel Pavlinovic, My Shot
图片来源： Daniel Pavlinovic, My Shot
A waterspout touches down near a boat near Dubrovnik, Croatia, in August 2007. Waterspouts are weak tornadoes that happen over warm water. They can move onto land and become tornadoes.
2007年8月，克罗地亚杜布罗夫尼克附近，一场海龙卷接近一艘小船。

海龙卷比龙卷风弱，一般出现在温暖海域上空。

它们能够登陆形成龙卷风。

8.Curved Tornado
008.弯曲的龙卷风
Photograph by Melanie Metz, My Shot
图片来源：Melanie Metz, My Shot
A thin funnel cloud touches down in a field in northwest Iowa. Funnel clouds become tornadoes once they touch the ground.
一个细细的漏斗云接近爱荷华州西北部的一块田地。

漏斗云一旦接触到地面就会变成龙卷风。

9.Tornado Cleanup
009.龙卷风后的清理工作
Photograph by Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images
图片来源：Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images
A man throws a stuffed animal to his wife as they clean up the debris from their apartment, damaged by a February 2008 tornado over Lafayette, Tennessee. Tornadoes caused $1.8 billion in damage and killed 126 people in the United States in 2008, but only $584 million in damage and 21 deaths in 2009.
2008年2月，龙卷风掠过田纳西州拉斐特后，一名男子和妻子在清理被摧毁的公寓中破碎的物品。

2008年的龙卷风，使美国遭受18亿美元的经济损失，126人死亡，不过2009年的龙卷风只造成5840万美元经济损失，21人死亡。

10.Destroyed Homes
010.被摧毁的家园
Photograph by Steve Pope, Getty Images
图片来源：Steve Pope, Getty Images
Several homes in a row were destroyed by a May 2008 tornado in Parkersburg, Iowa. Tornadoes can completely destroy some buildings while leaving others intact, depending on their construction. Mobile homes are notoriously flimsy in tornadoes, and accounted for more than half the tornado deaths in 2009.
2008年5月，爱荷华州帕克斯堡的龙卷风摧毁了一排几户人家。

因结构不同，龙卷风有可能彻底摧毁一些建筑，却使其它建筑保持完整。

活动房屋在龙卷风中最脆弱，是2009年龙卷风中一半以上人的死亡原因。

11.South Dakota Tornado
011.南达科塔龙卷风
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
图片来源：Carsten Peter, National Geographic
A category F3 tornado swirls across a South Dakota prairie. The F (Fujita) scale was used to measure wind speeds based on damage left behind after a tornado, and an F3 tornado had wind speeds between 158 and 206 miles an hour (254 to 332 kilometers an hour). The United States now uses the EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale, which takes more variables into account when assigning wind speeds to a tornado. An EF3 tornado now has wind speeds between 136-165 miles per hour (218-266 kilometers per hour), and the tornado pictured could be an EF3, EF4 or EF5.
一场F3级龙卷风旋转着掠过南达科塔一个牧场。

F（Fujita）级别用于根据龙卷风过后造成危害的程度测定风速，F3级龙卷风的风速在每小时254至332公里。

美国现在使用EF（Enhanced Fujita）级别，在为龙卷风确定风速时，纳入了更多的变数。

现在的EF3级龙卷风风速为每小时218至266公里），图中龙卷风可能为EF3、EF4或EF5.
12.Tornado Aftermath
012.龙卷风的后果
Photograph by Rick Gershon, Getty Images
图片来源：Rick Gershon, Getty Images
A woman searches the wreckage of her mother's house in Arkansas after a February 2008 tornado removed the roof. Forecasters in the United States can give an average warning time of 13 minutes before a tornado hits. The best place to be in a tornado is in a basement or interior room of the lowest floor of a sturdy building.
2008年2月，一名妇女在阿肯色查看她母亲家的房子。

一场龙卷风掀掉了这幢房屋的屋顶。

美国预报员平均能提前13分钟发出龙卷风警报。

龙卷风发生时，最安全的地方是地下室或牢固建筑的低层室内。

13.License Plate
013.牌照
Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic
图片来源：Mike Theiss, National Geographic
A Kansas vehicle license plate impaled on a tree after an EF5 tornado struck Greensburg, Kansas. Flying debris is the main cause of injuries and deaths in tornadoes.
一场EF5级龙卷风袭击堪萨斯格林斯堡，将一辆堪萨斯州汽车的牌照钉进了树里。

飞扬的瓦砾残片是龙卷风中致伤或致死的主要原因。

14.Broken Window
014.,破碎的窗户
Photograph by Rick Gershon, Getty Images
图片来源： Rick Gershon, Getty Images
A woman looks through a broken window of a friend's house after a February 2008 tornado over Atkins, Arkansas. Despite a myth that says otherwise, opening windows to equalize the pressure between the inside and outside of a house during a tornado will not prevent them from breaking. Flying debris is the main cause of broken windows in tornadoes.
2009年2月，一场龙卷风经过阿肯色州阿特金斯后，一名女子在朝朋友家破碎窗户里面看。

尽管神话有不同的说法，但是在龙卷风中，即使为降低室内外的压力而打开窗户，也避免不了窗户破碎的命运。

在龙卷风中，飞扬的瓦砾残片是打碎窗户的主要原因。

15.Safety Glass
015.安全玻璃
Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic
图片来源： Mike Theiss, National Geographic
A broken safety glass window frames a destroyed house after an EF5 tornado struck Greensburg, Kansas.
一场EF5级龙卷风袭击堪萨斯州格林斯堡，一幢被摧毁的房屋留下破碎的安全玻璃窗框。