Search the Dictionary:
Category F5 tornado as it approached Elie, Manitoba on Friday, June 22nd, 2007. (POTD) Credit: Wikimedian Justin1569, (Justin Hobson).
tornado:
A small but violent, funnel-shaped storm of strong winds whirling at speeds up to 320 miles per hour (480 kilometers per hour) that develops below a strong thunderstorm and extends toward the ground. The updraft at the center of a tornado may reach 200 miles per hour (320 kilometers per hour). A large tornado destroys houses, trees, bridges, boats, and almost anything else in its path. In the United States, most tornados occur during the summer in the Midwest or Southeast, because of the collision of warm, moist air at low levels in these regions with cooler, drier air coming from the north at higher altitudes. [Tornado comes from Spanish words meaning “thunderstorm” and “whirling.”]
