The only tornado that would be able to do serious damage to a 70 ton tank is an EF-5. Depending on how strong the winds are, and if it can catch the tank, it will move, and definitely damage it, but not in the same way as a semi truck or freight train.
The answer is no and here is why: Tornadoes have flipped train cars and even locomotives, but again, those have a bigger cross-sectional area and a higher center of gravity. So what would a tornado do to a tank?
Such tanks can go through masonry walls at speed and suffer little effect. An Abrams would likely survive most tornados. Tornadic debris is not like the shaped charges and penetrators designed to destroy tanks today and the impulse delivered in such debris is much lower than such shells.
Then, can a tornado hit a 70 ton gas tank?
One idea is that tornadoes vary in strength and size, but the only tornado that would be able to do any serious damage to a 70 ton tank would be an EF-5/4. Depending on how strong the winds are (and if it can catch the tank) it will move it, and definitely damage it, but not in the same way a semi truck or freight train will be.
If the tank is exposed, the running gear might be clogged and damaged. If the tornado winds can get a purchase on the tank and flip it, the tank would be rendered unusable without depot maintenance. There are cases where flipped tanks were righted and then driven to the maintenance depot.
Yes, the M1 Abrams tank weighs 60 metric tons; while the average house weighs 80. Considering that an EF5 tornado can wipe houses clean off their foundation, an M1 Abrams would be lifted up and tossed. Now I’m not sure how far it would be tossed; but the fact of the matter is the tank would definatley be moved.
The average house has FAR more frontal area than a tank, and tornadoes tend to remove houses from their foundations in a series of lighter, large-area fragments such as roofs and walls. Now, to the actual question.
Can a tornado pick up water?
Though it appears to be not as common. Additionally, when tornadoes form over large bodies of open water like an ocean, they are referred to as “water spouts.” There are a lot less people out there to see them and almost nothing to hit! Over large bodies of water a tornado or waterspout can pick up water, and there have even been reports of fish being picked up!
In odd cases, sometimes tornadoes do pick people up, which is obviously dangerous. When this happens, the winds can harm someone by trapping them between the tornado and the ground, rolling them around. This could potentially be fatal, if you were rolled around extensively.
Can tornadoes form on water?
Tornadoes can also form on water. These tornadoes are called “waterspouts.” Never think that a body of water will protect you from a tornado. “Tornadoes never strike the same area twice.”.
The next thing we asked ourselves was: what is a water tornado called?
One article claimed that Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning. In this regard, can tornadoes hit water?
A waterspout is a whirling column of air and water mist. Some can be just as dangerous as tornadoes. Waterspouts fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts. Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado.
Can a tornado blow a van up in the air?
A tornado would certainly have no trouble tossing a 2000 -3000 pound van into the air. That has been caught on video. Freight cars are often blown sideways from their tracks. In the huge cleanup after a tornado, no one bothers weighing the debris, so there is no record kept of heavy flying objects, other than cars.