What would happen if a tornado went directly over a whirlpool?
Jun 01, 2009
in
Tornado
I know that when a tornado is on water then it is called a funnel. But I've always wondered what would happen since a tornado and whirlpool pull in opposite directions. Up and down. I don't care whether it's possible or not just what would happen if it did.
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3 comments
Stephen B on June 1, 2009 at 6:37 pm
why is it that americans think they own tornados
there are more tornados over water and out at sea than occur over land
a funnel is just the beginnings of a tornado
over water its called a water spout
at least it is where I live
and since both tornados and water spouts are minor effects of the Corolis Effect then at the bottom of the world they will turn one way
and at the top or south pole they will turn the other way
back to your question the tornado would have the lower pressure so it would suck the whirlpool up
tingle4444 on June 1, 2009 at 6:37 pm
everybody in the whirlpool would die
Andrew M on December 2, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Such a good question. Turns out tornadoes are much stronger than whirlpools.
The strength of whirlpools has been exaggerated a lot in fiction, there are no reports of ships actually being sucked underwater by a whirlpool. According to wikipedia, the fastest top speed for whirlpools is from Saltstraumen, in Norway, it goes as fast as 37 km/h. Tsunamis (caused by underwater earthequakes) can also produce temporary whirlpools, either as water drains through a hole, or as the strong currents rush onto and off of land. Here’s video of a whirlpool caused by the recent earthquake in Japan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhporhNsWWI
37 km/hour is a really fast current, it would be impossible to swim against it, but the water is mostly spinning around in a circle, not being sucked downward. You can see in that video that a boat is being spun around by the whirlpool, but isn’t going under.
Tornadoes, on the other hand, suck cars and even houses into the air. Even a small tornado over a whirlpool would suck water up into the air.