Meteorology Legends and Misconceptions
#1)
The Coriolis effect causes water to drain one way in the northern hemisphere and the opposite way in the southern hemisphere.
More Accurately... On a spinning Earth, the Coriolis force causes air to move to
the right of the direction of travel. While the Coriolis force has a significant effect on hurricanes and mid-latitude storms, causing them to spin counter-clockwise north of the equator and clockwise to the south, swirling water in a sink or toilet is too small for the similarly small Coriolis effect to influence the direction of rotation.
#2) The "steam" we see over a pan of boiling water is a gas.
More Accurately... When liquid water evaporates, it turns into a transparent gas called water vapor. The white mist or steam above boiling water is visible because the vapor mixes with cooler air and quickly condenses back into tiny droplets of liquid water suspended in the air. If you want to "see" water vapor, look at the bubbles in rapidly boiling water or the small empty space above a pan of boiling water, or the top of the mist where steam is evaporating back into vapor. In these locations you see nothing, and that's because water exists as a gas in these situations. Water vapor seems invisible because it's transparent. Steam is is not transparent because it is composed of liquid droplets. Once you can see steam the gas has changed back to a liquid, similar to water droplets in fog or clouds.
3)
Opening windows in a house to equalize air pressure will minimize destruction by a tornado.
More Accurately... Even with the windows closed, most homes have enough openings to vent the pressure difference in the time that it takes for a tornado to pass.
It is the violent wind in a tornado that breaks windows and causes damage, not the buildup of air pressure inside the structure. Leave the windows alone, the tornado will open them for you. Instead, go immediately to the basement or a pre-determined interior room if a tornado approaches.