Landspout tornado with a debris cloud,crossing a farm field. This rare,close-range photo,taken within 45 metres of the tornado,shows the violently spinning vortex. In the background is the cloud (white),from which the tornado formed. A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that can form during the growth of a cumulonimbus (thunderstorm cloud). Landspout tornadoes are small,relatively weak tornadoes associated with less severe thunderstorm clouds. They are so-called because they resemble waterspouts,but occur on land. Tornadoes are most common in the mid-west USA. Photographed in May,in western Kansas,USA |