Editing Tornado (section)

=== Dissipation ===
[[File:Tornado Roping Out in Eastern Colorado.jpg|thumb|A tornado dissipating or "roping out" near the town of [[Eads, Colorado]].]]
As the RFD completely wraps around and chokes off the tornado's air supply, the vortex begins to weaken, becoming thin and rope-like. This is the "dissipating stage", often lasting no more than a few minutes, after which the tornado ends. During this stage, the shape of the tornado becomes highly influenced by the winds of the parent storm, and can be blown into fantastic patterns.<ref name="significant tornadoes"/><ref name="PD tornado images"/><ref name="target tornado"/> Even though the tornado is dissipating, it is still capable of causing damage. The storm is contracting into a rope-like tube and, due to [[conservation of angular momentum]], winds can increase at this point.<ref name="thebible"/>

As the tornado enters the dissipating stage, its associated mesocyclone often weakens as well, as the rear flank downdraft cuts off the inflow powering it. Sometimes, in intense supercells, tornadoes can develop [[wikt:cycle|cyclically]]. As the first mesocyclone and associated tornado dissipate, the storm's inflow may be concentrated into a new area closer to the center of the storm and possibly feed a new mesocyclone. If a new mesocyclone develops, the cycle may start again, producing one or more new tornadoes. Occasionally, the old (occluded) mesocyclone and the new mesocyclone produce a tornado at the same time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family of tornadoes - Glossary of Meteorology |url=https://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Family_of_tornadoes |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220816201555/https://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Family_of_tornadoes |archive-date=2022-08-16 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=glossary.ametsoc.org |language=en}}</ref>

Although this is a widely accepted theory for how most tornadoes form, live, and die, it does not explain the formation of smaller tornadoes, such as landspouts, long-lived tornadoes, or tornadoes with multiple vortices. These each have different mechanisms which influence their development—however, most tornadoes follow a pattern similar to this one.<ref name="tornadogenesis">{{cite journal|doi=10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<0795:TRFTTO>2.0.CO;2|title=Tornadogenesis Resulting from the Transport of Circulation by a Downdraft: Idealized Numerical Simulations|first1=Paul M.|last1=Markowski|first2=Jerry M.|last2=Straka|first3=Erik N.|last3=Rasmussen|journal=J. Atmos. Sci. | volume= 60 |issue= 6|pages=795–823|year=2003|bibcode = 2003JAtS...60..795M |doi-access=free}}</ref>