Tornado vs Hurricane – 10 Amazing Facts

There are so many wild tornado and hurricane facts! We couldn’t fit them all in our book, so check out 10 of the best that didn’t make the cut below.

Storm Secret #1

Tornado Twins

Sometimes more than one tornado can bust out of a storm at once!

They can twist and twirl around each other like a dangerous dance party.

Check out the video Are “Twin Tornadoes Possible? on YouTube.

Learn more at NOAA Storm Prediction Center.

A rare photograph of two tornadoes over the Great Plains

Image courtesy of NOAA Legacy Photo; OAR/ERL/Wave Propagation Laboratory. Public domain.

Storm Secret #2

Hurricanes Can Change the Shape of Land

Powerful hurricanes can wash away entire barrier islands. These long, thin islands protect the coast from strong waves.

Hurricanes can also carve new channels of water through beaches. Hurricane Katrina made parts of Louisiana’s coast look completely different.

Check out the power of a 15 foot (4.5 meters) storm surge in Florida!

Learn more at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Image courtesy of Lieut. Commander Mark Moran, NOAA Corps, NMAO/AOC. Public domain.

Storm Secret #3

Tornado Cousins

A dust devil is kind of like a tornado, but they’re mostly harmless and do not come from thunderstorms.

Dust devils often form on hot, sunny days. The ground gets very hot and heats the air directly above it. This hot air begins to rise quickly in a spinning motion. It lifts dust and sand from the ground to look like a tiny dust tornado.

Check out this video of a real dust devil in Louisiana!

Learn more at National Weather Service (NWS).

A powerful dust devil swirls across the barren desert of Boulder City Dry Lake Bed in Nevada

Storm Secret #4

Secret Title

Hurricanes come in many sizes, but here are some of the most common you’ll see.

The total size of most is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) wide. That would cover Ireland from top to bottom!

The calm, clear center of a hurricane, called the eye, is often 20-40 miles (32-64 kilometers) across. That’s about the width of some of the islands in Hawaii!

Check out this video from inside the eye of a hurricane!

Learn more at National Weather Service (NWS).

Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.

Storm Secret #5

Flying Mail

In 1915, a Kansas tornado tossed a postcard 85 miles (137 kilometers) away from where it started!

Learn more at Tornado Debris Project.

Image courtesy of Department of Homeland Security. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Public Affairs Division. Public domain.

Secret #6

Storm Seasons

In the Atlantic Ocean, hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

Tornadoes can happen any time of year, but in the United States they’re most common in late spring and early summer.

Learn more at NOAA National Hurricane Center and NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.