Words That Describe a Tornado

Describing a Tornado

Origins of the Word Are Spanish

The word tornado is thought to come from the Spanish word tronada which means thunderstorm. The word "tronada" comes from the Latin word "tonare" which means to thunder. The modern word most probably comes from a combination of the Spanish words tronada and tornar which means to turn.

Cyclone in The Wizard of Oz

In the famous 1939 film The Wizard of Oz the main character Dorothy is knocked unconscious by a tornado and wakes in the magical Land of Oz. The movie referred to the tornado as a cyclone multiple times leading to the word cyclone becoming a layman term for a tornado. The enduring popularity of the movie has led to the term cyclone stll being used today as one of the words that describe a tornado. The real definition of cyclone usually involves an area of fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the earth.

Twister in the Movie Twister

In addition to The Wizard of Oz. the movie Twister also popularized a new term for a tornado. The movie was released in 1996 and has grossed nearly $500 million since that point. The movie went on to become the first Hollywood feature film to be featured on the DVD format. Today, the term twister is synonymous with the word tornado due to the movie’s immense popularity.

Types of Tornadoes

There are many different types of tornadoes which can be described in various different terms.

Multiple vortex tornado - a tornado in which two or more air columns make contact with the ground and rotate around each other.
Waterspout - a tornado over water.
Fair weather waterspout - has relatively weak winds and smooth laminar walls.
Tornadic waterspout - is very powerful and is often associated with severe thunderstorms.

Tornado Damage Scales

Tornadoes are some of the most destructive natural phenomena on earth. There are many ratings for the intensity of a tornado, but the most famous one is the Fujita Scale. The scale is based on how much damage a tornado can cause to man-made structures and vegetation. The scale was created by Ted Fujita in 1971 at the University of Chicago.

F0 tornado - causes minor damage to tree branches and little to no damage to man-made structures.
F1 tornado - causes moderate damage and can peel roofs off of houses or knock over automobiles.
F2 tornado - causes considerable damage and can uproot trees and knock over mobile homes.
F3 tornado - causes critical damage and can tear roofs and walls off of houses, overturn trains, uproot forests, and twist and deform skyscrapers.
F4 tornado - causes severe damage and can level well constructed houses, throw cars and other large objects, as well as destroy skyscrapers and highrises.
F5 tornado - causes devastating damage and can lift an entire house into the air and disintegrate it as well as throw a car nearly 100 meters. In the movie Twister a F5 tornado was referred to as “the finger of God.”

Terms for Tornado Destruction

The awesome power of a tornado can be describe both as deadly and eerily beautiful.

It is nature at its most ferocious and many people describe the noise as a loud train crashing through a town.
Most tornadoes are over quickly leaving behind a wake of destruction and contrastingly serene weather after they pass.

There are many ways to describe a tornado as long as you remember their incredible power and the destruction they leave behind.