Who is Mr. Tornado?

     Mr. Tornado was a famous Japanese-American meteorologist and college professor by the name of Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita. He was an expert in the field of natural disasters. From hurricanes to tornadoes to typhoons to any other natural disaster, Fujita knew it all. But, as you can tell by the title Fujita is commonly known for his groundbreaking research on tornadoes. 

    

    Before the world knew about Dr. Fujita and his expertise on tornadoes, his first big event was the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fujita didn't think like the average meteorologist/scientist. He would account for the factors that most would regard as irrelevant and the angles that others simply didn't know about. Fujita was able to find out the strength of the atom bomb, the height at which it exploded, and several other important factors. 

    Dr. Fujita later came to America to continue his research on tornadoes and teach at the University of Chicago. Though Fujita had been an expert in tornadoes for over 30 years, he never actually saw a tornado until he was in his 60's. Just like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fujita paid attention to the damage done by the tornado and the debris that was left of it. He was able to find out the strength, size, and so many other aspects of the tornadoes, which led to a scale still used today called the "Fujita Scale." 

Dr. Fujita's greatest contributions to meteorology

• Fujita created a scale (pictured above) that determined the strength of a tornado, known as the "Fujita Scale" which is still used today. The scale is based on the speed of the tornado, from least to the greatest threat. F0-F5

• Fujita also saved thousands of lives with the discovery of microbursts, which were the downdraft of tornadoes. These microbursts could wreak havoc on anything in their path especially planes in the air. (Pictured above is damage done by a microburst to an airport)

What lesson can be learned from Dr. Fujita?

• Always case or assess a situation/event/problem/etc., inch by inch from all the angles. Try to account for the factors that others ignore or regard as irrelevant.

Dr./Prof. Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita 

1920-1998