The video discusses the phenomenon of anti-cyclonic tornadoes, which are rare and often unexpected. These are tornadoes that spin in the opposite direction to the rotation of the Earth's surface
1. Around 98% of the world's tornadoes rotate in the same direction as the Earth.
2. This rotation is referred to as cyclonic, which is counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
3. However, there are instances where tornadoes spin in the opposite direction, referred to as anti-cyclonic.
4. Most anti-cyclonic tornadoes observed were companions of a cyclonic tornado or rotation in a supercell.
5. These rare tornadoes often sneak up on observers, who may be fixated on the more business end of the storm.
6. Some anti-cyclonic tornadoes develop as smaller satellites orbiting around a parent tornado.
7. In some cases, they manifest as land spouts in non-supercellular storms.
8. Anti-cyclonic tornadoes often form in a predictable region of a right-moving supercell.
9. Due to their infrequency, even trained observers may not anticipate these anti-cyclonic threats and thus may get caught off guard.
10. Some anti-cyclonic tornadoes have been documented as long-lived.
11. In 2015 near Simla, Colorado, several tornadoes were strongly anti-cyclonic.
12. The most powerful anti-cyclonic tornado ever recorded was an F4 on the Fujita scale, which occurred on April 4, 1981, in West Bend, Wisconsin. This tornado injured 53 people and ended the lives of three.