Tornadoes

Dec. 12, 2021

Lately a topic had come to my mind to share. Stars! We will get back to that... in my next posted lesson. But first, after this weekend's tornados around my area, a second topic is pressing my interest. Until I get a moment to deeper research tornados, I want to address the pressing question that came to my mind yesterday after seeing the destruction pathway on local news. (Note: Not that I watch the news, but the picture of destruction got my attention, as I saw it on the tv in my break room at work.). First, this picture amazed me as I saw the helicopter fly over this small section of Mayfield, Ky and houses were still intact right next to the ones that were destroyed. Secondly, and the focus of our lesson, if we live on a globe, how does the tornado have such a straight destruction that crosses over several state lines as one news helicopter can film several miles from south to north of this path to view it all, in a matter of a few hours, without seeing the globe's curve? Wouldn't you as a viewer, see the curvature as the helicopter flies? There are arguments on how often you should see the curve, but the consensus is about every 6 miles. So using that statement as our basis, now take what Kentucky's Gov. Beshear states on a news brief of the tornado's destruction. He says: 227 miles If a helicopter (or a drone), can record these miles and measure that length and a viewer sees a flat line of destruction, why are we not seeing clearly the globe's curves on live television? Furthermore, why aren't we seeing the curvature every 6 miles while driving home from work everyday? (source for Governor's statement): https://www.nbcnews.com/.../quad-state-tornado-crossed...