Fun Facts About Tornadoes for Kids

Curious about tornadoes? Check out these fun facts about tornadoes for kids!

Facts About Tornadoes

Tornadoes are one of the most powerful types of weather that can occur.

What are tornadoes? Where do tornadoes hit? Why do tornadoes happen?

Do you have as many questions about tornadoes as we do?

Well, join us as we learn all about tornadoes.

Let’s get started with some fun facts and discover what tornadoes are, where tornadoes are most likely to happen, and why tornadoes form!

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Tornado Fun Facts

Tornadoes are formed from thunderstorms.

Thunderstorms alone do not cause tornadoes.

However, when there is a change in wind direction, wind speed, and temperature during a big thunderstorm, it is possible that a tornado can be formed.

Tornadoes are made of air.

Tornadoes are made up of really fast-spinning tubes of air that form a funnel.

They touch the clouds up in the sky and the ground down below.

Sometimes they spin so fast that buildings, trees, and other objects can be broken apart and thrown around. Oh my!

Tornadoes are measured with the Fujita Scale.

The Fujita scale measures the strength of tornadoes, ranging from F0 to F5.

F0 tornadoes are considered weak and cause a little bit of damage if any.

F5 tornadoes are said to be violent and can cause a lot of destruction.

Tornadoes have very high winds.

Some tornadoes can have wind speeds of around 65 miles per hour. That is fast!

However, really strong tornado winds can reach speeds up to 300 miles per hour. Wow!

Most tornadoes occur in Tornado Alley.

Tornado Alley is an area in the central United States where tornadoes are the most common.

From Texas all the way up to South Dakota and from Missouri over to the Rocky Mountains, tornadoes are most likely to occur; but tornadoes can actually happen anywhere in the world.

Tornadoes can be created over water.

When a tornado is above water, such as the ocean or another body of water, it is called a waterspout.

A tornado waterspout can be formed over water or move from land to water.

A tornado has other names.

Tornadoes aren’t just called tornadoes. They can also be known as twisters, cyclones, and funnels.

The safest place to be during a tornado is underground.

Basements, cellars, and other underground places are the safest places to ride out a tornado.

If you can’t get to an underground shelter, head to a room that has no windows on the bottom or first floor of your house or building.

Take shelter in a bathroom or closet, and if you can, cover yourself with a blanket, sleeping bag, or mattress.

Tornado Fun Facts for Kids

As you’ve just discovered, tornadoes are an incredible force of nature.

While it seems that the what, where, how, and why of a tornado is understood, tornadoes are so complex, that even scientists are actually still learning about them.

We look forward to finding more out about tornadoes in the future!

We hope you’ve enjoyed these fun facts about tornadoes!