Tornado

Tornado

Also known as a twister, cyclone, or funnel cloud, tornadoes are a powerful column of wind spiraling violently around a centre of low atmospheric pressure. Tornadoes are shaped like a funnel, with the narrow end pointing towards the Earth. The winds in a cyclone spiral at speeds up to 500 miles/hr. The vacuum this creates in the centre of the funnel affects everything it passes over.
When tornadoes touch the Earth they leave behind a path of destruction. They can pick up trains, telephone poles, houses, people and other animals, dropping them up to hundreds of kilometres away. Tornadoes can form in an instant and can last from several seconds to hours. The average width of a funnel is 200-300 yrds. MORE! [AM] {GC} {WW} {TO}