You are likely somewhat familiar with tornadoes. These deadly vortexes of swirling air can take off even the most secure roofs. Roofers are busy after a tornado hits. However, there is a special type of tornado that is a bit of a mystery.
In this video, you will learn about anticyclonic tornadoes that spin backwards.
In the northern hemisphere, tornadoes spin counterclockwise. In the southern hemisphere, they spin clockwise. Tornadoes that follow this rule are known as cyclonic tornadoes. This is true for 98% of tornadoes. However, 2% of tornadoes spin backwards. These tornadoes are known as anti-cyclonic tornadoes.
Anti-cyclonic tornadoes are often accompanied by cyclonic tornadoes. In fact, anti-cyclonic tornadoes often spawn as satellites of these tornadoes. They often develop when a rear flank downdraft of air occurs near the mesocyclone of the storm. This can often catch storm chasers off guard. They may be fixated on the cyclonic tornado just to have an anti-cyclonic tornado form overhead. This element of surprise is what makes them so dangerous. In this video, you can see a beautiful anti-cyclonic tornado that is a dirt brown from picking up large amounts of dirt.
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