Tornadoes originate from heavy thunderstorms. They can cause severe damage to communities within seconds. The most common illustration of a tornado is a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud extending from the sky to the ground with winds reaching up to 300 miles per hour.

Fact 1. Tornadoes strike quickly without any warning.

Fact 2.   The most destructive tornado is the tornado that obliterated the town of Manchester in June, 2003.

Fact 3.  Most tornadoes occur from March to July when cool, dry air from the Rocky Mountains clashes with the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico.

Fact 4.  Tornadoes are measured by the amount of damage they cause as it is challenging to measure the winds and the power of the winds. The unit of measurement is called the Fujita Scale developed by Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago. The least damaging is the F1 with 100-mile-an-hour winds. The maximum scale is an F5.

Fact 5.  The deadliest year for tornadoes was 1925 when 794 people were killed due to a tornado.

Fact 6. Based on the Fujita Scale, the number of tornadoes has been relatively constant for the past half-century.

Fact 7. On April 28, 2011, a town 30 miles south of Washington became the 94th town hit by an F5 tornado since 1880.

Fact 8.  The word ‘œtornado’ originated from Spanish ‘œtronada’ meaning ‘œthunderstorm.’

Fact 9. Tornadoes can lift objects including people and animals for 4-10 km, sometimes alive. On June 19, 1940, in Russia, a tornado poured out thousands of 14th century silver coins which were transported several kilometers.

Fact 10. The sun has its own set of tornadoes. A giant tornado, larger than the size of the Earth, has been seen by NASA.