Tornados & Thunderstorms

Have you seen the movie "The Wizard of Oz?" In the movie, the main character Dorothy and her dog Toto are carried away by a tornado and end up in a fantasy land called Oz. While this is a great film to watch, it is not quite accurate; tornadoes do not safely carry people to magical places. In fact, they can be extremely dangerous!

Also known as a twister or a cyclone, a tornado is a rotating funnel of air that is in contact with the ground, and they usually form during very strong thunderstorms. Thunderstorms form when a warm front meets a cold front. When the two fronts meet, if the change of wind direction and speed is strong enough, then the air will start rotating and form a tornado. Tornadoes are the fastest winds on earth, sometimes reaching speeds up to 300 miles per hour! They are so strong that they can pick up and destroy cars, houses, and even buildings!

While tornadoes can be really cool to watch, you should never get near a tornado! Instead, you should immediately find shelter. If you want to find out how to protect yourself from a tornado, watch intense tornado videos, and learn all the fascinating facts about tornadoes, lightning, and thunderstorms, you are definitely at the right place here at Kids Ahead!

Title picture by Justin1569 at en.wikipedia.