What Is a Tornado?

A tornado is a cylinder of air that rotates at a destructive rate. They come down from the foundation of a thunderstorm to the ground. Because a tornado is made of wind, the tornado itself is invisible. When it gathers dust and other objects, it will then be seen. You may also see a tornado because of a formation consisting of drops of water.
Tornadoes are extremely severe and there are two types of tornadoes. The one you see the most often is also the most dangerous. These come from what is called a supercell thunderstorm. These have rotating air that rises, that can be observed up to an hour before a tornado is formed. It can also happen as little as twenty minutes before a tornado is formed. Supercells have long lives; they can last over an hour, and are very organized. The other type of tornadoes is non-supercell. These do not need the rising rotating air, also called an updraft, to form. There are two kinds of non-supercell tornados, a gustnado and a landspout. A gustnado is a funnel of dust and other small objects with no water that is near the ground. A landspout is formed as the thunderstorm itself is still growing. It is very narrow and is formed by water. You also have waterspouts and these are just like landspouts however they are on the water and landspouts are on the land.
While many tornadoes have wind speed around 110 miles per hour some can have a devastating wind speed of 300 miles per hour. They also vary in the size and length of time they stay on the ground. Size can go from 250 feet to 2 miles wide and the time can vary from only a few miles to dozens of miles. You can sometimes tell that a tornado will form by the color of the sky, usually green or black colors. You may also see hail before a tornado or hear a train like sound. However Tornadoes move fast so you will need to take shelter as soon as you can.
Tornadoes are rated on a scale but are not rated until after they are over. The scales ranges from EF0 to EF5, EF0 would be a weak tornado that damages things like trees but not major buildings. An EF5 would be the strongest tornados that can cause complete devastation. When a Tornado of this strength happens it can be disaster for a community and that is a time when they will a lot of help. Help in the form of donations of time, money and supplies.