General

Generally, rushing to open all the windows before the tornado hits is a dangerous venture anyway. Even if you opened all the windows and doors, the debris in the tornado would shred your house.

this is both true and false.

True: The pressure in your house and the outside would equalize by opening the windows, and so no walls or roofs or windows would get blown out, and your building would stay put

False: The debree (spelling?) would result in the destruction of your house/property.

It prevents the house from bending due to uneven air pressure.

However it doesn't prevent the house from being ripped into shreds.

It only helps prevent the pressure inside the house from being much greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the house ( = setting the pressure to equilibrium). The tornado (obviously) can still destroy the house. If opening the doors and windows would prevent any damage to the house in a tornado, then [b]everyone would all open their doors and windows and the house would never be damaged.[/b]

Realistically, opening your doors and windows won't protect you from a tornado flying over your house. However, the concept of this is the important part so let's just pretend the only thing affecting your house is air pressure. The air speed is extremely fast outside the house, so pressure is very little. The interior of the house will have a lot more pressure, so the air molecules will be pushing out with nothing outside to push the house in. The difference in pressure would cause your roof to lift since the only air pressure is pushing outwards. It's the same way how airplanes achieve lift or blowing over a piece of paper to achieve lift. yup...

No definitely do not open your windows when you're in the danger area of a tornado. The whole thing about pressure is nothing more than an urban myth.

Brb MythBusters

Lol no. Equalizing air pressure wouldn't work because the winds are already strong enough to destroy and lift most of the furniture inside the house.

Its false I witnessed it in real life and it broke

[quote=HipPop]It happened in Wizard of Oz, I don't see why not.[/quote]

I award you no points, and may Odin have mercy on your soul.

It's got to be something to do with the pressure at the eye of a tornado, because they'll most likely shatter the doors and windows anyways? I dunno.

[quote=HipPop]It happened in Wizard of Oz, I don't see why not.[/quote]

Saying it happened in the movies is almost as credible a source as saying "I read it on the internet".

It happened in Wizard of Oz, I don't see why not.

Considering the winds inside a tornado are strong enough to throw asphalt/cars/trains meters through the air, do you think having your windows open or closed will make any difference when a tornado hits?