May 21, 2013—Two days before a tornado—with winds clocked at 190 miles per hour—tore through suburban Oklahoma City on May 20, National Geographic explorer and storm researcher Tim Samaras...

The average tornado—a mostly harmless cyclone of air that connects a storm cloud above and Earth’s surface below—has a lifespan of only a few minutes. However, when they move away from the average, tornadoes are considered some of …

How do tornadoes form? The truth is that we don't fully understand. The most destructive tornadoes occur from supercells, which are rotating thunderstorms with a well-defined radar circulation called a mesocyclone.

A tornado can form in a thunderstorm where the rotating air of an updraft (shown in purple) meets the rotating air of a downdraft (shown in aqua), which has turned upward. Paul Markowski, Penn State University. Tornadoes only form when a thunderstorm has a particular combination of winds.

Aug 28, 2019 · Tornadoes form when warm, humid air collides with cold, dry air. The denser cold air is pushed over the warm air, usually producing thunderstorms.

Jul 16, 2024 · Knowing what to do during severe weather is key to reducing your risk should a tornado form. Though we summarize safety advice below, if you live in an area where tornadoes form, we suggest visiting Ready.gov’s Tornado web page. Your first line of defense is to be aware of weather forecasts, warnings, and watches.

Dec 5, 2024 · A tornado forms from a large thunderstorm. Inside thunderclouds, warm, humid air rises, while cool air falls--along with rain or hail. These conditions can cause spinning air currents inside the cloud.

Mar 30, 2024 · In this guide, we’ll explore the science behind tornadoes, focusing on the meteorological processes that lead to their formation, the stages of development, the types of tornadoes, and the environmental factors that influence their intensity.

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with the surface and a cumuliform cloud base. Tornado formation is caused by the stretching and aggregating/merging of environmental and/or storm-induced vorticity that tightens into an intense vortex. There are various ways this may come about and thus various forms and sub-forms of ...

Jan 2, 2025 · Tornado, a small-diameter column of violently rotating air developed within a convective cloud and in contact with the ground. Tornadoes occur most often in association with thunderstorms during the spring and summer in the mid-latitudes of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.