I didn't mean for you to send a twister!
Warm air is part of the recipe !Excerpt:
The National Weather Service defines a tornado as "a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and pendant from a thunderstorm." In other words, a thunderstorm is the first step in the creation of a tornado. Then, if other conditions are right, the thunderstorm could spin out one or more tornadoes.
The three key conditions required for thunderstorms to form are:
- Moisture in the lower to mid levels of the atmosphere.
- Unstable air. That is, air that will continue rising once it begins rising from near the ground.
- A lifting force. Something is needed to cause the air to begin rising. The most common lifting force is heating of air near the ground. As the air warms it becomes lighter and begins rising. Advancing masses of cool air, which force warm air upward, also trigger thunderstorms.