Open window during tornado/wind

[WARose]

I was watching the Weather Channel last night.....and they took on "twister myths". One of them was the old wise tale that if you open the windows/doors of a structure during a tornado.....that will protect it. Well they debunk that one (even though it's just a single door open).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjxNJQmWnM

On a personal note: debunked by none other than my old fluids professor Dr. Reinhold. I don't think he's aged a day in 20 years!

 

[atrizzy]

Seems like our design codes regarding internal pressure coefficients reflect this. Pretty interesting watch. And it comes down so quickly... wow.

 

[Compositepro]

Well, the concept of opening the doors and windows to protect a house is to prevent it from exploding when the low pressure in the tornado comes over the house. Clearly, if only one door or window is open and facing the wind, this creates a different problem of pressurizing the house due to the stagnation pressure of the wind inflating the house. Both problems are real but different. If you do not open the windows, and one gets broken by flying debris, this will almost certainly be on the wind facing side. Thus, not opening any window is probably closer to the scenario in the video than opening all the windows. But, who wants to open the windows with a tornado bearing down on them? Of the three options:
1) open all the windows
2) keep all windows shut tight
3) open one window
opening one window is the worst.

What I found most interesting about the video is how quickly the siding got blown off the house. It shows how weakly it is attached to the house.

 

[hokie66]

I don't there has ever been a claim that an opening on the windward side will help. But an opening on the leeward side will. The trick is figuring out which is the leeward side. Not as simple in real life as in a controlled test.

 

[IRstuff]

Seems to me that opening the leeway side will decrease the internal pressure of the house, which would increase the pressure differential on the windward side

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[cvg]

most of the windows will break from the flying debris. The debris field extends far beyond the core of the tornado. The simulation did not consider debris. Opening them is a waste of time and an unnecessary risk.