According to the Glossary of Meteorology, a tornado is "a violently rotating column of air, pendant form a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and oftem (but not always) is visible as a funnel cloud."

Now, a translation of that definition--

A tornadoe is a spinning cylinder of air from the bottom of a thunderstorm cloud, to the ground.

In general, a tornado only can occur on land, but there is an exception. When a funnel touches down on a body of water, the technical term for a disaster of such is considered a "water spout"

Some Intresting Facts About Tornadoes

-Tornadoes occur in the United States more than any other country in the world, due to the clash of warm gulf air and cold Canadian air.

This diagram here courtesy of "Tornado!" website shows the Tornado Alley, where the most tornadoes touch down in the United States.

-Tornaodes have done anything from tossing cars and mobile homes to tossing cows for miles. For a good representation of what we're saying, watch the movie Twister!

-The National Weather Service estimates that every year 1,000 tornadoes occur which results in an average of 42 casualties a year.

-Similar to wind speeds of Hurricanes, Tornadoe Winds sometimes can be in excess of 260 miles! The following chart shows the Fujita Pearson tornado classification in relation to wind speed.

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