[ t o r n a d o e s   :   i n s i d e   t h e   e y e ]

So what is it like in the eye of a tornado? Survivors who have experienced the center of a storm report complete silence in the eye, and a strange, blue glow. Looking up, the tornado looks like a hollow column, slick-surfaced and opaque, about ten feet thick, resembling the inside of a pipe. It extends upward for over a thousand feet, swaying gently. At the bottom, according to one testimony, the funnel was 150 yards across and was larger higher up, and was filled with a bright cloud, shimmering like a fluorescent light. The column appears to be a stack of huge rings, each independent of the next. These rings cause waves to ripple from top to bottom. As each wave reaches the bottom of the tornado, the funnel’s tip snaps like a whip.

A Kansas farmer looked straight up a tornado near Greensburg on June 22, 1928. He described a circular opening in the center of the funnel, about 50 or 100 feet wide. Extending up for half a mile, its walls were spinning clouds and full of lightning flashes. He saw smaller tornadoes constantly form and break away from the center with hissing sounds.

[ info ]: introduction - tornado tales - what is a tornado? - surviving the storm - inside the eye - waterspouts - causes of tornadoes - the mesocyclone - tornado strength - light and sound - tornado behavior - prediction - preparation - prevention - in the future - references - glossary

[ reality ]: current events - case studies - ten worst - real life stories - interviews - quotations

[ interact ]: multimedia - simulations - classroom - activities - quizzes - message board - resources

[ general ]: about - win our award - awards we've won - guestbook - help - contact us - sitemap

[ forces ]: avalanches - droughts - earthquakes - flooding - fog & mist - forest fires - hurricanes - landslides - monsoons - phenomena - severe storms - snowstorms - tornadoes - tsunamis - volcanoes - windstorms - main page