What is a tornado?

Tornado - unusually violent weather is called a storm and is always accompanied by high winds. Some of these winds have spiralling internal movements and the revolving storms they produce are variously called tornadoes, whirlwinds, willy willies, waterspouts and hurricanes. Near the centre of a tornado is an area of calm known as the "eye" of the storm. This is simply a hollow vortex formed by the spiralling of the air rather like the centre of a vortex of water going down a drain. Because of the suction in this low pressure "eye" houses collapse and roofs are carried off corks are drawn from bottles and window panes fall outward. Around the edge of the funnel shaped cloud of the tornado, which looks like an enormous spinning top and almost touches the ground the wind may blow at 200 miles an hour. The storm belt only a few thousand feet wide, travels at 25 to 40 miles an hour to the accompaniment of a deafening roar. A waterspout is a tornado at sea, sucking in water and carrying it in an upward spiral with the wind to the overhanging cloud. A ship entering a waterspout soon find her bridge and rigging covered with insects and birds. They are exhausted by their struggle in the side of the waterspout they have just passed through and are seizing the chance to rest in the "eye" before being caught up in the fury of the other side. Tornadoes occur in the middle latitudes of the earth.