Random Weather Facts

TORNADO
Tornadoes are referred to as funnel clouds until they touch the ground. Tornadoes are spawned by severe thunderstorms and are violent funnel-shaped wind vortexes in the lower atmosphere with upward spiraling winds of high speeds. The tornado usually appears from a bulge in the base of a cumulonimbus cloud. A tornado can be tens to hundreds of metres wide and have a lifespan of minutes to hours. In area, it is one of the least extensive of all storms, but in violence, it is the world's most severe. More tornadoes occur in the United States than in any other country. In Canada, tornadoes occur mostly on the Prairies and in southern Ontario.