A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the cloud base of a thunderstorm and the ground.
A funnel cloud is a potential tornado that extends from the base of a thunderstorm, but the circulation does not reach the ground.
A waterspout is a tornado or a tornado like vortex that occurs on a body of water. Most waterspouts form by a different mechanism for typical tornadoes and are usually weaker.
A dirt devil, more commonly called a dust devil, is a small vortex that forms at ground level on hot, sunny days. Unlike a tornado, funnel cloud, or most waterspouts, a dust devil is an independent whirlwind that is not associated with a thunderstorm and does not connect to any cloud base. Dust devils are much weaker than tornadoes.
Either the funnel cloud or the violent, rotating winds associated with it must reach the ground in order to be classified as a tornado.
Neither. A funnel cloud that touches the ground is a tornado. A thunderhead is the sort of cloud that develops into a thunderstorm, and a supercell is the kind of thunderstorm most likely to produce a tornado.
tornado is often made visible by a distinctive funnel-shaped cloud. Commonly called the condensation funnel, the funnel cloud is a tapered column of water droplets that extends downward from the base of the parent cloud. It is commonly mixed with and perhaps enveloped by dust and debris lifted from the surface.
A tornado.
A tornado that touches the ground is simply a tornado. Before it touches down it is called a funnel cloud.
A tornado has actually touched down on the ground - a funnel cloud is a spinning cloud that has not actually touched the ground.
A funnel cloud is a developing tornado that has not reached the ground.
A funnel cloud is essentially a tornado that has not touched down yet. The pressure drop inside a tornadic circulation is what produces the funnel.
tornado clouds
A tornado that does not touch the ground is a funnel cloud.
A funnel cloud is like a tornado only it does not reach the ground.
Yes. A tornado is often visible as a funnel cloud as it develops.
The funnel cloud turned into a tornado.
In a sense, yes. But the term funnel cloud usually means a "tornado" that has not touched down.
A tornado that has touched the ground is called a funnel cloud.
A funnel cloud that touches the ground is a tornado.
To some extent, yes. A funnel cloud is the visible portion of a tornado. However, not all funnel clouds are tornadoes. If the winds associated with a funnel cloud do not reach the ground then it is not a tornado. Conversely, if the winds do reach the ground the term funnel cloud is not usually used, and the event is simply called a tornado.