Tornado A thunderstorm blasts rainwater against the window Hail falls from the sky and lands with a bounce A dark twisting shape drops from the gray-black cloud Time to take cover it’s a tornado 4
A tornado is a column of air that rotates powerfully and drops from a thundercloud to the ground Not every storm produces tornadoes Storms vary in the amounts of rain hail lightning and winds they produce Some spin out tornadoes Large tornadoes can have winds as fast as 300 miles 483 kilometers per hour They blow trees from the ground lift cars and damage buildings and roofs 5
Tornadoes occur on the ground and cause damage there A funnel cloud rotates in the same cone shape It comes from clouds but it does not touch ground or cause any damage Still it can become a tornado if it drops down far enough All tornadoes look somewhat different They can be funnel shaped ropy or wide like a wedge Wind is clear but most tornadoes have color The color depends on the soil and debris they move over and pick up Tornadoes may look gray with rain black or white The red dirt of Oklahoma sometimes makes the tornadoes look red Some are so clear they are hard to see They can even have more than one funnel Tornadoes may be difficult to spot in heavy rain An F3 tornado with winds up to 200 miles per hour 321 9 kilometers per hour in 2006 near Wynne Arkansas destroyed several houses mobile homes and grain silos 6
Tornadoes are unpredictable They can move from any direction Most move from southwest to northeast A few move west to east Their paths can change directions or even turn around Short-lived tornadoes may last a few seconds but some can last up to an hour Most tornadoes last between five and ten minutes before they break up A tornado may sound like a rumbling train It also could make a roaring or whooshing sound Large tornadoes can sound like a jet overhead Northern Hemisphere Equator North America South America Europe Africa Asia Antarctica Southern Hemisphere Australia Fast Fact Most tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise Tornadoes in the Southern Hemisphere tend to rotate in a clockwise direction 7
