Editing Tornado (section)

==Myths and misconceptions==
{{Main|Tornado myths}}
Folklore often identifies a green sky with tornadoes, and though the phenomenon may be associated with severe weather, there is no evidence linking it specifically with tornadoes.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Knight |first=Meredith |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-if-sky-is-green-run-for-cover-tornado-is-coming |title=Fact or Fiction?: If the Sky Is Green, Run for Cover – A Tornado Is Coming |journal=Scientific American |date=2011-04-18 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-date=2012-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014160521/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-if-sky-is-green-run-for-cover-tornado-is-coming |url-status=live }}</ref> It is often thought that opening windows will lessen the damage caused by the tornado. While there is a large drop in [[atmospheric pressure]] inside a strong tornado, the pressure difference is unlikely to cause significant damage. Opening windows may instead increase the severity of the tornado's damage.<ref name="tornado project myths"/> A violent tornado can destroy a house whether its windows are open or closed.<ref name="tornado project myths">{{cite web|url=http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/myths.htm|title=Myths and Misconceptions about Tornadoes|access-date=2007-02-28|first=Tim|last=Marshall|publisher=The Tornado Project|date=2005-03-15|archive-date=2013-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608030946/http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/myths.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tornado myths">{{cite book|first=Thomas P.|last=Grazulis|title=The tornado : nature's ultimate windstorm|url=https://archive.org/details/tornadonaturesul0000graz|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3258-2|chapter=Tornado Myths|ref={{harvid|Grazulis|2001}}|accessdate=2009-11-20}}</ref>
Another commonly held misconception is that highway overpasses provide adequate shelter from tornadoes. This belief is partly inspired by widely circulated video captured during the [[April 26, 1991 tornado outbreak|1991 tornado outbreak]] near [[Andover, Kansas]], where a news crew and several other people took shelter under an overpass on the [[Kansas Turnpike]] and safely rode out a tornado as it passed nearby.<ref name=noaa-overpass>{{cite web|author=National Weather Service Forecast Office|location=Dodge City, Kansas|title=Overpasses and Tornado Safety: Not a Good Mix|url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=over|work=Tornado Overpass Information|publisher=NOAA|access-date=24 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107153850/http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=over|archive-date=7 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, a highway overpass is a dangerous place during a tornado, and the subjects of the video remained safe due to an unlikely combination of events: the storm in question was a weak tornado, the tornado did not directly strike the overpass,<ref name=noaa-overpass/> and the overpass itself was of a unique design. Due to the [[Venturi effect]], tornadic winds are accelerated in the confined space of an overpass.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/tornadosafety.html|title=Tornado Myths, Facts, and Safety|publisher=National Climatic Data Center|date=2006-08-17|author=Climate Services and Monitoring Division|access-date=2012-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314063308/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/tornadosafety.html|archive-date=2012-03-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> Indeed, in the [[1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak]] of May 3, 1999, three highway overpasses were directly struck by tornadoes, and at each of the three locations there was a fatality, along with many life-threatening injuries.<ref name="highway overpass danger">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/tornado-underpass.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408091759/http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/tornado-underpass.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-04-08|title=Overpasses are tornado death traps|access-date=2007-02-28|first=Chris|last=Cappella|date=2005-05-17|newspaper=USA Today}}</ref> By comparison, during the same tornado outbreak, more than 2,000 homes were completely destroyed and another 7,000 damaged, and yet only a few dozen people died in their homes.<ref name="highway overpasses">{{cite web|url=http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=safety-overpass |title=Highway Overpasses as Tornado Shelters|access-date=2007-02-28|date=2000-03-01|work=[[National Weather Service]]|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000616093920/http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass.html |archive-date = 2000-06-16}}</ref>

An old belief is that the southwest corner of a basement provides the most protection during a tornado. The safest place is the side or corner of an underground room opposite the tornado's direction of approach (usually the northeast corner), or the central-most room on the lowest floor. Taking shelter in a basement, under a staircase, or under a sturdy piece of furniture such as a workbench further increases the chances of survival.<ref name="tornado project myths"/><ref name="tornado myths"/>

There are areas which people believe to be protected from tornadoes, whether by being in a city, near a major river, hill, or mountain, or even protected by [[supernatural]] forces.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tornado Myths & Tornado Reality|url=http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/tornado-myths.html|first=Kenneth F.|last=Dewey|publisher=High Plains Regional Climate Center and [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]]|date=2002-07-11|access-date=2009-11-17|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080611013128/http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/tornado-myths.html |archive-date = June 11, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tornadoes have been known to cross major rivers, climb mountains,<ref name="Tornadoes in mountains">{{cite web|url=http://tornado.sfsu.edu/RockwellPassTornado/index.html|title=Tornado, Rockwell Pass, Sequoia National Park, 2004-07-07|first1=John|last1=Monteverdi|first2=Roger|last2=Edwards|first3=Greg|last3=Stumpf|first4=Daniel|last4=Gudgel|date=2006-09-13|access-date=2009-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819041516/http://tornado.sfsu.edu/RockwellPassTornado/index.html|archive-date=2015-08-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> affect valleys, and have damaged [[List of tornadoes striking downtown areas|several city centers]]. As a general rule, no area is safe from tornadoes, though some areas are more susceptible than others.<ref name="Handy Weather Answer Book"/><ref name="tornado project myths"/><ref name="tornado myths"/>