Tornado Facts!
 
 
 

Most tornadoes have damage paths 150 feet wide, move at about 30 miles per hour and last only a few minutes. Extremely destructive ones may be over a mile wide, travel at 60 miles per hour and maybe on the ground for more than an hour.

Tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere, such as the devastating ones that occur in the U.S., northeastern India and Bangladesh, nearly always rotate counterclockwise when viewed from above.

Southern Hemisphere tornadoes, such as those that form in Australia, tend to rotate clockwise. These directions are called cyclonic.

People who observe tornadoes by chasung them all over are known as StormChasers! Stout-hearted "storm chasers" race to put themselves right in the path of danger, both for the sheer thrill of it and to gather information that will clarify how tornadoes form, gather strength and dissipate.