Tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air originating from a strong thunderstorm cloud. The most extreme tornadoes can have wind speeds greater than 250 mph and can be more than one mile wide and 50 miles long.
Tornadoes, compared to hurricanes, are much smaller and form quicker. They are more difficult to predict than hurricanes. Meteorologists still do not fully understand why tornadoes form. The formation of tornadoes is extremely complex.
Usually in the spring to early summer, warm moist area from the Gulf of Mexico pushes into cool dry air from the north. This mixture of air fuels thunderstorms with a swirling column of air which narrows and reaches down to the ground, becoming a tornado. Tornadoes become visible due to the moisture of air inside them.
