Violent thunderstorms can often give birth to powerful funnels of wind called tornadoes. The wind in these funnels can reach speeds of over 500km/h (300mph). When they come into contact with the ground, tornadoes can pick up vast amounts of dust and debris. Rising air within the funnel sucks objects upwards, uprooting trees and destroying houses.
A tornado is a tube of violently spinning air that touches the ground. Wind inside the tornado spins fast, but the actual ‘circle’ of wind around them is huge. This makes tornadoes very dangerous. Tornadoes are especially dangerous to people in cars or mobile homes and about 60 people are killed by tornadoes every year.
Tornadoes destroy things. They can tear houses to pieces and often leave people homeless. Tornadoes can be caused by winds that have been going opposite directions with humidity. They are smaller than hurricane but stronger. Nearly three quarters of the world’s tornadoes happen in the United States. However, they can happen anywhere.
Tornadoes mostly happen during strong thunderstorms called super cell storms. They cause a lot of damage to anything in their path. Tornadoes are ranked on the Enhanced Fujita scale, from EF0 to EF5. EF0 for tornados that caused the least damage, and EF5 for the ones that caused the most.
Tornadoes can happen in nearly any part of the world. In the United States, a tornado has happened in all states. The middle part of the United States is nicknamed ‘Tornado Alley’ for the number of tornadoes there. A tornado can have wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour (480 km/h). Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), are about 250 feet (80 m) across and travel a few miles before disappearing. Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirls, and steam devil; downbursts are frequently confused with tornadoes, though their action is not similar.
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