A tornado is a very powerful twisting windstorm. It is a very intense cyclone. Tornado winds are the most violent winds that take place on Earth. They are a circulating funnel cloud that comes down from a dark mass of clouds. Some of these funnels do not reach Earth. However, other funnels come down, touch ground, go back up, and touch down again.

A tornado is called a twister in some places. Most tornadoes last less than an hour. They can travel about twenty miles, at a speed of ten to twenty-five miles per hour. Some of them last several hours. These are the most destructive. They travel about two hundred miles at a speed of sixty miles per hour. Most form along a front between cool dry air from the north, and warm humid air from the south. The violent circulating winds destroy almost everything in its path.