What are tornadoes and hurricanes?

Tornadoes are violent destructive whirlwinds whose force is concentrated into a much smaller area than that of a hurricanes. They are very common in the central United States, were they cause emourmous damage. Tornadoes travel across the land at high speed, and the roaring noise they make can be heard 40 km away. A tornado happens when huge masses of clouds moving in different directions meet. The air begins to spin ina spiral, and a funnel of twisting air reaches out towards the ground. The low pressure in the funnel sucks up soil, dust and anything else it touches, even cattle!

Hurricanes are powerful tropical storms that can cause serious damage. They from near the Equator, where warm,moist air rises, drawing in coller air below. The air moves in a spiral, eventually forming a whirling mass. Rising warm air continous to cool and drop down in the center of the spiral to repeat the process. The winds inside the hurricane travel at speeds up to 200km/h. Hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean, passing over the West Indies and the southern United States. Similar storms in the Pacific ocean are called typhoons, whereas in the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones.