A tornado is a very fast whirling wind that if strong enough can destroy houses and knock down trees.

Turn the dials to make cross winds and up draughts.

Can you make the correct conditions to form a tornado?

 

Tornados form in severe thunderstorms called supercells. They occur when it is extremely hot. Warm moist air rises and meets cold air above it. This causes the warm air to explode upwards and thunderclouds begin to form. This then encourages air to move upwards rapidly and winds from different directions to be dragged upwards to the centre of the storm. The wind coming into the storm starts to swirl and form a funnel. The air in the funnel spins faster and faster and creates a very low pressure area. The low pressure area causes more air to be sucked in. As the tornado travels over land it gathers speed and can cause vast destruction as it goes. The United Kingdom has more tornados per area than America but here they are less strong.