A powerful, spinning column of air that reaches from a storm cloud down to the ground and can cause great damage.
It likely comes from Spanish 'tornar' meaning 'to turn', or 'tronada' meaning 'thunderstorm', blended into 'tornado'. Sailors in the 1500s used it for violent, twisting storms at sea.
A tornado is like the atmosphere’s version of a drill—air spinning so fast it can rip roofs off houses. The word itself swirls together ideas of turning and thunder, just like the storm mixes wind and lightning.
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