Twister in the Sky

About this drawing

Tornado and lightning often show up together because both are born inside towering thunderstorms. The strongest of these storms are called supercells, and they can stretch higher than airplanes fly, bringing heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightning along with their winds.

A tornado begins when warm, moist air near the ground meets cooler, drier air above it. Winds blowing at different speeds and directions at different heights set the air rolling sideways like a log. A powerful updraft can tip that rolling air up on its end, creating a spinning column inside the storm called a mesocyclone.

If the spinning column stretches down and touches the ground, it becomes a tornado. The funnel is visible because it fills with water droplets, dust and debris. Some twisters last only a few seconds, while others travel for miles before they fade away.

Kids often ask whether a tornado really could pick up a house, which leads to great conversations about the power of nature, why storms deserve respect and how meteorologists use radar to warn people early. Understanding how a storm works can make it feel a little less scary.

• tornado
• thunderstorm
• lightning
• weather science
• meteorology