SAMPLE OUTLINE FOR INFORMATIVE SPEECH

Tornadoes

I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: What can hurdle automobiles through the air, rip ordinary homes to
shreds, defeather chickens, and travel at speeds over 60mph?
B. Relevance: Illinois rests on the boundary of what tornado researchers call tornado alley.
This is the area of the country that receives the most tornadoes every year. According to a
1995 brochure distributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Illinois averages 27 tornadoes a year. Also, nearly five people die every year in Illinois as a
result of tornadoes [Visual Aid]. In fact, according to Tornado Project Online!, a website
hosted by a company that gathers tornado information for tornado researchers that I
accessed earlier this month, the deadliest tornado in U.S. recorded history occurred in
Murphysboro, Illinois. In 1925, a violent tornado killed 234 people in this Southern Illinois
town.
C. Credibility: I grew up in the heart of tornado alley and have been interested in this weather
phenomenon for a very long time. Also, I am a trained weather spotter for the
Bloomington/Normal civil defense agency.
D. Thesis: In order to better understand tornadoes, it is important to explore what causes
tornadoes to develop, how researchers classify types of tornadoes, and odd occurrences that
may be associated with tornadoes.
E. Preview of main points: So, let us crash through the causes of tornadoes, twist around the
types of tornadoes, and blow through some of the oddities associated with tornadoes.

Transition: Initially, I will crash through the causes of tornadoes.

II. Body
A. There are several causes of tornadoes.
1. According to the USA Today Tornado Information website, which was last
updated on June 20, 2000, a tornado is a “violently rotating column of air in
contact with the ground and pendant from a thunderstorm.” Therefore,
thunderstorms are the first step in the creation of a tornado.
2. The USA Today Tornado Information site also indicates that there are three
key conditions for thunderstorms to form.
a. First, moisture in the lower to mid levels of the atmosphere.
b. Second, unstable air. This is air that will continue rising once it
begins rising from near the ground.
c. The final condition for the formation of tornado-producing
thunderstorms is a lifting force. A lifting force is a mechanism that
cause air to begin rising. The most common lifting force is heating
of the air (which is why we experience so many thunderstorms in
the spring as the air begins to warm).
3. The same source indicates that the strongest thunderstorms typically form
in the warm, humid air that’s east or south of advancing cold air.
4. I mentioned in the introduction, Illinois sees its fair share of tornadoes. The
following graph, adapted from the USA Today Tornado Information website,
illustrates areas in the U.S. that receive the greatest number of tornadoes
(tornado alley). Thunderstorm-producing tornadoes are likely to form in
this area
as cold air from the west and north clashes violently with warm air from the
Gulf of Mexico [Visual Aid].
Transition: Now that we have crashed through the causes of tornadoes, let’s twist around the types of
tornadoes.

B. There are several types of tornadoes.

1. According to renowned weather historian Dr. David Ludlum, author of the
1997 edition of the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide To North
American Weather, tornado researchers use a scale, known as the Fujita-
Pearson Tornado Intensity Scale (named after its creators) to rate the
intensity of tornadoes [Visual Aid].
2. Tornado statistics from NOAA (cited above) [Visual Aid].
a. Weak Tornadoes
i. Account for 69% of all tornadoes.
ii. Winds are less than 110 mph.
b. Strong Tornadoes
i. Account for 29% of all tornadoes.
ii. Winds range from 110-125 mph.
c. Violent Tornadoes
i. Represent only 2% of all tornadoes.
ii. Winds exceed 125 mph.
3. According to Tornado Project Online!, although violent tornadoes account
for only 2% of all tornadoes, they are responsible for 67% of all deaths in
tornadoes [Visual Aid].
4. In addition, astrogeophysicist Dr. Robert Davies-Jones notes in a 1995
edition of Scientific American that most tornadoes have damage paths 150
feet wide, move at about 30 miles per hour and last only a few minutes.
However, extremely violent tornadoes, like the one that ripped through
Murphysboro, Illinois, may be over a mile wide, travel at 60 miles per hour
and may stay on the ground for more that one hour.

Transition: Now that we have a better understanding of the causes and types of tornadoes, I will blow
through some of the oddities associated with tornadoes.

C. There have been many oddities associated with tornadoes.

1. Stories of strange events are typical in the wake of the damage causes by
tornadoes. Indeed, much of what makes stories of tornadoes unusual is
irony. Consider the following story from the 1996 Weather Guide Calendar.
In a 1984 Kansas tornado a man, apparently thinking that his mobile home
would be destroyed, ran to shelter in another building, only to have that
building destroyed (killing the man), while his trailer survived just fine.
2. As noted by Tornado Project Online!, the Great Bend, Kansas tornado of
November 1915 is a tornado which seems to have the greatest number of
oddities associated with it.
a. At Grant Jones’ store, the south wall was blown down and
scattered, but shelves of canned goods that stood against the wall
were not moved.
b. The Riverside Steam Laundry, built of stone and cement block, was
completely destroyed, yet two nearby wooden shacks were
untouched.
c. A canceled check from Great Bend was found in a corn field, one
mile outside of Palmyra, Nebraska… 305 miles to
 the northeast. This is the longest known distance that debris has
ever been carried.
3. Tornado Project Online! Also reports that the “plucked chicken” remains
today as perhaps the most talked about tornado oddity [Visual Aid].
Indeed, this oddity has been associated with many Illinois tornadoes.
a. Within the damage descriptions of rural tornadoes, there are often
stories of a chicken “stripped clean of every feather.”
b. It has long been thought that the feathers explode off the bird in the
tornado’s low pressure.
c. The most likely explanation for the defeathering of a chicken is the
protective response called “flight molt.” As noted by Tornado
Project Online!, “chickens are not stripped clean, but in actuality
they lose a large percentage of their feathers under stress in this
flight molt process.” In short, when the chickens become scared
their feathers become loose and are simply blown off.

III. Conclusion

A. Thesis/Summary: Today, I have explored the key factors that cause tornadoes to develop,
how researchers classify types of tornadoes, and odd occurrences that may be associated
with tornadoes.
B. Memorable Close: So, the next time you see a Ferrari flying through the air, your college
dorm being dismantled floor by floor, or a chicken without wings, take cover because
tornado season is here.
 References

Davies-Jones, R (1995). Tornadoes: The storms that spawn twisters are now largely understood, but

mysteries still remain about how these violent vortices form. Scientific American, 273(2), 48-

58.

Grazulis, T. (1995). Chasing tornado oddities. In L. Sessions (Ed.), 1996 Weather Guide Calendar with

Phenomenal Weather Events. Denver, CO: Accord Publishing.

Ludlum, D. M. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to North American weather. New York:

Chanticleer Press.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (1995). Tornadoes: Nature’s most violent storms

[Brochure]. Washington, DC: National Weather Service.

Tornado Project Online. (2000, June 19). The top ten U.S. killer tornadoes. Retrieved August 5, 2000,

from http://www.tornadoproject.com/

USA Today Tornado Information. (2000, June 20). Understanding tornadoes.[On-Line]. Retrieved

August 7, 2000, from http:// www.usatoday.com/weather/tornado/wtwist0.htm