Pictures
This is a Dust Devil
This is a Fire Tornado
This is a Water Tornado
This is a common tornado caused by wind.
Characteristics
How do you know that a tornado is in fact a tornado? Well you are probably thinking, that is pretty obvious. But, how do you know what kind of tornado it is. Did you know that there are many different types of tornadoes? I bet you didn't. You can tell the different types of tornadoes, by their different characteristics.
Tornadoes have many distinct shapes, sizes, colors, and types. Did you know that there is such a thing as a water tornado? There are also tornadoes called dust devils and fire tornadoes. Obviously the dust tornado is constructed of dust and a fire tornado is made of fire. Tornadoes can be many different colors, some that are white, others black, gray, or even red. Tornadoes look darkest during the afternoon, especially when you're looking southwest to northwest. When this happens it is usually because they are in front of a lighter source like a bright sky west of a thunderstorm. A tornado may also look dark blue or white. This is because there is heavy rain behind the tornado. Tornadoes typically blend in with the debris that they encounter. For example, if the tornado is going over red soil, the tornado may appear to have a red tint to it.
Sometimes something that seems to be a tornado may not actually be one; these types of opticle illusions are called gustanos. A gustano is a small and usually weak whirlwind which forms in thunderstorms. A way that you can contrast and identify these types of storms is by looking at the top of it. If it does not connect to a cloud, it is a gustano. You see, a tornado always connects to a cloud formation, but a gustano does not connect to anything. Gustano's may cause minor damage such as breaking a window, snapping tree limbs, and toss lawn furniture. Even with that being said, you should still avoid them.
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