SPRING: SEASON OF THE TORNADO; KNOWING WHERE TO GO CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

It isn't necessary to have Doppler radar to see conditions that are favorable for tornadoes.

Tornadoes usually spawn from severe thunderstorms. So, if a person feels threatened by a storm, then would be the advisable time to seek shelter.

Storm clouds can take on certain similarities that give tornado-chasers an idea of where a tornado can form. Clouds in different altitudes moving in different directions mean the winds are also moving in different ways. That is one of the conditions that creates a tornado.

Pat Spoden, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., gave this description of tornadoes:

Once formed, tornadoes can move from 30 mph to 70 mph across the ground. Wind speeds are even faster with the strongest reaching 200 mph and an average speed being about 100 mph.

Most tornadoes in the northern hemisphere spin in the same direction: counter-clockwise. But some have been known to break that pattern.

For years storm researchers thought houses were blown apart by a tornado when the air pressure inside the structure became drastically different than the pressure outside. Researchers now say the difference in air pressure isn't great enough to cause this to happen.

Houses may be torn apart by tornadic winds that enter a house through a broken window or open door.

Tornadoes usually last about five minutes once formed, but some can exist for hours.

Tornadoes are not restricted by geography: They can form on water, travel over water -- including streams and rivers -- and are not swayed by hills or flatlands.

Dave Hitt, emergency management director for Cape Girardeau County, gave this advice for staying safe in the path of a tornado:

-- The safest place to be is below ground.

-- In a house without a basement or cellar, go to an area that has the most walls protecting you from the outside and the least amount of windows. Get under something heavy.20Structures with a V-shape roof are safer than buildings with a flat roof.

-- In a vehicle, don't try to outrun a tornado. Stop the vehicle and get out. Get into a ditch and cover your head with your arms. Tornadoes can toss around even an 18-wheeler.

-- The worst place to be is in a mobile home. Mobile home residents should have a place designated in advance, and if a tornado is spotted they should leave their mobile homes immediately. Being in a low place outside is safer than being in a mobile home, even those homes that are secured to the ground.