| Caption: |
(a) This wall cloud near Miami, Texas, is the lighter gray cloud to the left of the lightning bolt. Wall clouds hang downward from a severe thunderstorm and are often where tornadoes form. (NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL]) (b) Airborne funnel clouds, like this one over the state capitol in Austin, Texas, are not considered tornadoes until they touch the ground. (Austin Public Library) (c) A tornado in its organizational stage of development near Enid, Oklahoma. The funnel cloud extends downward from the thunderstorm and debris is beginning to rotate on the ground below the funnel. (NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL]) (d) A tornado in the mature stage of development near Seymour, Texas. (NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL]) (e) A tornado in the decaying rope stage of development near Cordell, Oklahoma. A tornado can still be very dangerous at this stage. (NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL]) |
| Keywords: |
atmosphere, air pressures, atmospheric pressures, lows, tornadoes, cumulonimbus clouds, winds, funnel clouds |
