Tornado study to dive into storm's heart This funnel cloud formed April 10 in Keo, Ark, although no tornadoes on the ground were reported. A band of hail, heavy rain and twisters pounded Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma Thursday, damaging hundreds of homes, flooding roads and leaving thousands without power. U.S. scientists plan the most extensive tornado study since one in the mid-1990s that helped inspire the Hollywood film Twister. Starting in spring 2009, researchers intend to hunt tornado-spawning thunderstorms in the central part of the country. The study could lead to more effective ways of warning people about deadly tornadoes, said Howard Bluestein, a University of Oklahoma meteorology professor involved in the planning. "It's certainly the largest tornado project in over a decade," said Joshua Wurman, director of the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, Colo. Wurman took part in the original VORTEX (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) study in 1994-95. The VORTEX study allowed researchers, for the first time, to see highly detailed images of tornadoes on radar, and "it was just astounding," recalls Erik Rasmussen of Mesa, Colo., the research scientist who coordinated VORTEX and also is helping to plan VORTEX2. FIND MORE STORIES IN: Texas | Alabama | Colorado | Hollywood | Iowa | Arkansas | Mississippi | Nebraska | Southern | South Dakota | Plains | Boulder | Atmospheric Administration | National Oceanic | South Dokota | Moore | National Science Foundation | Sioux Falls | University of Oklahoma | Northern Illinois University | Twister | Argus Leader | Center for Severe Weather Research | Walker Ashley The VORTEX study led to increased knowledge about conditions inside tornadoes and near the ground and how rapidly they can intensify, Wurman said. VORTEX also marked the beginning of a database that now includes about 130 tornadoes studied from 1995 to 2007. Tornado warnings in the USA are issued when spotters see twisters or radars detect signs of them. If researchers learn to identify the storms more prone to developing into tornadoes before they actually do, "then