https://www.pitara.com/tags/natural-hazards/Recent content in Natural Hazards on Pitara Kids NetworkHugoen-usSat, 13 Jun 2026 21:46:31 +0530https://www.pitara.com/science-for-kids/5ws-and-h/what-is-a-tornado/Mon, 22 May 2000 10:14:36 +0000https://www.pitara.com/science-for-kids/5ws-and-h/what-is-a-tornado/<p>If you ever happen to see a dark often greenish sky, wall cloud, large hail and a loud roar similar to a freight train then run to a safe place as it could be a tornado.</p> <p>Popularly known as twisters, tornado is derived from Spanish word ‘Tronada’ meaning thunderstorm and ‘Tornar’ meaning to turn.</p> <figure class="image-portrait-right has-caption"> <a href="https://www.pitara.com/media/earth-20_1.jpg" aria-label="Link to larger image"> <img src="https://www.pitara.com/media/earth-20_1_hu_81ed87a4cb592a6d.jpg" width="450" height="595" alt="Tornadoes [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik]" loading="lazy"> </a> <figcaption>Tornadoes [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik]</figcaption> </figure> <p>A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column of air that can spin faster than 300 m.p.h., extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. They are generally observed as tube-or funnel-shaped clouds. At ground level they usually leave a path of destruction about 50 m wide and travel an average of about 8 to 24 km.</p>