How Do Tornadoes Form?
5. Touchdown
When conditions are right, the spinning cold downdraft will overcome the warm rising updraft and force its way down to the ground. It is at this point that we have a tornado. The spinning vortex of air has high winds that can be very destructive, causing damage to any property that it touches.
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The winds in a tornado are usually slower than 110 mph, and some might be as low as 40-50 mph and will cause little damage. More severe tornadoes, however, can have winds reaching to around 300 mph and these will be very destructive indeed. The more severe tornadoes can also cover an area of more than 2 miles across.
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