Plain English Meaning

Tornadoes are spinning columns of extremely fast wind that drop down from a thunderstorm and reach the ground. The winds and pressure changes inside them are strong enough to tear apart almost anything they touch.

Full Definition

Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that extend from the base of a thunderstorm cloud down to the ground, produced by the strong updrafts and wind shear inside severe thunderstorms. Wind speeds inside a tornado can exceed 200 knots, and the very low pressure in the core combined with the high rotational winds creates forces capable of destroying almost anything in the tornado's path. A funnel cloud is the same rotating column when it has not yet reached the ground; once it touches the it is called a tornado, and it is called a .