What is a tornado and how does it form?

A tornado is like a super strong wind that spins really fast and can pick things up and carry them away.

Imagine you're playing on a swing. When you go back and forth, you make a big arc in the air. Now imagine doing that, but not just once, but with the whole sky! That's kind of what happens when a tornado forms.

Tornadoes start when two kinds of wind meet: one from the front and one from the side. These winds are like kids on swings who go in different directions, they push and pull against each other, making things swirl around.

As this swirling gets stronger, it starts to spin faster and faster. Think about how your hair whips around when you run really fast in the wind! That’s what happens with the air, it turns into a spinning column that can reach all the way from the sky down to the ground.

When the column touches the ground, whoosh, a tornado is born! It can pick up leaves, cars, even houses and carry them like toys in a stormy game.