Tornadoes
A tornado, which is sometimes called a "twister," or a "cyclone," is a fierce, swirling wind in the shape of a funnel. More than 600 tornadoes touch down in the United States every year. Tornadoes are most common in the "Tornado Ally," which stretches from Texas to Iowa.History
History is full of devastating tornadoes. A few famous tornadoes are the Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925. It killed 695 and injured 2,000 other. More than 11,000 people lost their homes during the tornado’s three and a half-hour tour, on the 219-mile path of destruction through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
How Tornadoes Form
Tornadoes form from a severe thunderstorm. Tornadoes form when a vortex touches the ground. This process may be known as a touch down. When a tornado touches down, the quickly swirling vortex lifts debris, including dirt, rocks, and even trees, into the air. The debris darkens the sky, which is already very dark from cumulonimbus clouds blocking the sunlight, and adds to the menacing appearance of a tornado. How Weather Effects Us
Weather affects people in the world by what we wear and what we eat, and what kind of house we live in. For example in Antarctica they might wear large parkas and be drinking hot cocoa as they are living in an igloo. Yet here in Texas we could be eating ice cream and drinking iced tea in our bathing suits, while living in a well-built house with all the windows open. The crops that we grow also depend on the weather because too much rain can cause flooding, while too little rain results in droughts. Hurricanes and Thunderstorms also cause some of these things as well.
