Tornado
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A tornado, also known as a twister, is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends vertically from the surface of the Earth to the base of a cumulonimbus or cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often visibl
A tornado approaching Elie, Manitoba, Canada in June 2007
A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma, 1999. The funnel is the thin tube reaching from the cloud to the ground. The lower part of this tornado is surrounded by a translucent dust cloud, kicked up by the tornado's strong winds at the surface. The wind of the tornado has a much wider radius than the funnel itself.
Photographs of the Waurika, Oklahoma tornado of May 30, 1976, taken at nearly the same time by two photographers. In the top picture, the tornado is lit by the sunlight focused from behind the camera, thus the funnel appears bluish. In the lower image, where the camera is facing the opposite direction, the sun is behind the tornado, giving it a dark appearance.
A waterspout near the Florida Keys in 1969.
Landspout
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A landspout is a type of tornado not associated with a mesocyclone. The term was coined by atmospheric scientist Howard B. Bluestein in 1985. The Glossary of Meteorology defines a landspout as:
A landspout tornado in the early stages of development by the town of Lamar, Colorado
A landspout tornado forms from a developing thunderstorm near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. Landspouts are exceptionally common in Eastern Colorado.
Landspout on 29 September 2007 in Minas Gerais