TORNADO (Span., tornada, a turning about, cf. " turn ")

This article appears in Volume V27, Page 52 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: TOO-TUM

TORNADO (Span., tornada, a turning about, cf. " turn ") , a local whirlwind of extreme violence, usually formed within a thunderstorm. In

appearance

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

it consists of a funnel-shaped

cloud

CLOUD (from the same root, if not the same word, as " clod," a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages for a mass or lump; it is first applied in the usual sense in the late 13th century; the Anglo-Saxon chid is only used in the sense of " a ma

, depending from the

mass

storm

STORM (in O. Eng..storm, and so in Du. and Low Ger.; in O. H. Ger. and mod. Ger.
Sturm
- STURM
- STURM, JULIUS (1816-1896)
; the root is probably that seen in " stir," to rouse, move, disturb, cf. Ger. storen)
STORM, THEODOR WOLDSEN (1817-1888)

cloud

CLOUD (from the same root, if not the same word, as " clod," a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages for a mass or lump; it is first applied in the usual sense in the late 13th century; the Anglo-Saxon chid is only used in the sense of " a ma

above, and when fully

developed

DEVELOPED

tapering downwards to the earth. Besides its whirling motion, a tornado has an advancing

movement

MOVEMENT

of from 20 to 40 M. an hourand along its own narrow path it carries destruction. Its duration is usually from half an hour to an hour. Tornadoes are most common in America, especially in the

Mississippi

MISSISSIPPI

Valley and the Southern states; in Europe and elsewhere they are comparatively rare. Owing to their association with thunderstorms they generally occur in warm weather. A tornado is the result of a

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

of local in-stability in the atmosphere, originating high above the earth. A current of air is induced to ascend with a rapid spiral motion

round

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

a central core of low pressure. The moisture in the ascending air is condensed by cooling both as it ascends and as it expands into the low-pressure core. The cloud-funnel appears to grow downwards because the moisture in the air is condensed more rapidly than the air itself, following a spiral course, ascends.

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