Tornado myths are dangerous. Every year, people die because they believed something that isn't true โ sheltering under overpasses, opening windows, running to a specific corner. Here are the ten most common tornado myths and the science of what actually works.
False โ potentially fatal. A widely circulated 1991 TV video showed people surviving under a Kansas highway overpass. The video created a myth. NWS studies since have consistently shown that overpasses increase tornado risk: the "venturi effect" of wind under an overpass accelerates wind speed, and flying debris travels through overpasses at deadly velocity. Multiple people died sheltering under overpasses during the 1999 Bridge CreekโMoore F5.
What to do instead: Get out of your car and lie flat in a ditch, culvert, or low-lying area. Cover your head with your arms.
False. This myth dates to the 1970s and has no scientific basis. The pressure change from a tornado is negligible compared to the force of 150+ mph winds. Opening windows just gives the tornado more access to enter and rip off the roof.
What to do instead: Ignore windows. Get to your safest room. Save the seconds you would have wasted on the windows.
False. This myth comes from an early 20th-century belief that tornadoes always come from the southwest, so debris would land in the northeast side. Modern research shows tornadoes can come from any direction, and debris falls unpredictably.
What to do instead: Get to the smallest interior room on the lowest floor, ideally away from windows. A basement is best. Under a heavy piece of furniture is even better.
False. Tornadoes have struck downtown Dallas, downtown Miami, downtown Nashville, downtown Fort Worth, and many others. The 1953 Waco F5 destroyed downtown Waco. The 1997 Miami tornado struck the city center. Tornadoes have crossed the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, and climbed 10,000-foot peaks in the Rockies.
The truth: Cities represent a small fraction of the landscape โ most tornadoes miss them by chance. Hills sometimes suppress weak tornadoes but do nothing to violent ones. If you're in a city or on a hill and hear a tornado warning, take shelter.
False โ dangerously so. Tie-downs prevent mobile homes from tumbling in weak tornadoes (EF0โEF1). At EF2 or higher, tie-downs make no meaningful difference. Approximately half of all US tornado deaths occur in mobile homes despite them housing only 6% of the population.
What to do instead: If a warning is issued, leave the mobile home. Drive or walk to a nearby permanent structure or community shelter. Have a plan before tornado season begins.
False in most cases. Tornadoes can move up to 60+ mph and can change direction unpredictably. Urban traffic and rural intersections make outrunning any tornado risky. Most vehicle-based tornado deaths happen to people trying to escape.
What to do instead: If time permits, drive at right angles to the tornado's path. If not, abandon the vehicle for a ditch or low-lying area.
Neither is safer. The Deep South's small towns have suffered catastrophic tornado deaths (Smithville MS, Hackleburg AL, Greensburg KS, Mayfield KY). Urban tornado deaths tend to be lower per capita because of better building stock and warning infrastructure. Neither type of community is inherently safer.
False. The 1925 Tri-State tornado crossed the Mississippi River. The 2011 Joplin tornado formed just west of the Missouri River. Bodies of water don't stop violent tornadoes.
Dangerous. The "eye" of some tornadoes and their parent supเฏเฎเฏrcells contains brief moments of calm โ but the violence returns without warning. Also, single supercells often produce multiple tornadoes in sequence.
What to do: Stay in shelter until the NWS clearly says the warning has ended, not just until it feels calm.
Partly true, mostly false. Experienced storm spotters CAN identify wall clouds, funnel clouds, and rotating updrafts. But most people cannot reliably identify pre-tornado conditions โ and many tornadoes are rain-wrapped and completely invisible.
What to do: Rely on the NWS and a NOAA weather radio, not the sky. The sky can save your life, but only if you're already trained.
โ Simulate a tornado on our interactive map