Tornadoes are best described as which of the following?

Tornadoes are best described as which of the following?

• A. A weather event causing drought in deserts
• B. A tropical cyclone that forms over the ocean
• C. A winter storm with heavy snowfall
• D. A funnel shaped storm with high winds found in the United States

Answer: (D)

Tornadoes are fast-moving, violently rotating columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground and often form a funnel shape. This describes the defining feature of tornadoes: a narrow, powerful current of rotating air that can cause extreme damage in a small area. They are most famously associated with the United States, where atmospheric conditions—warm, moist air from the Gulf meeting cooler air from the interior and strong upper-level winds—frequently create the supercell thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes. The other options describe different weather events—drought, tropical cyclones that form over oceans, and winter storms with heavy snow—so they don’t capture the characteristic shape and intense winds of a tornado as well as the funnel-shaped, high-wind storm found in the United States.

Tornadoes are fast-moving, violently rotating columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground and often form a funnel shape. This describes the defining feature of tornadoes: a narrow, powerful current of rotating air that can cause extreme damage in a small area. They are most famously associated with the United States, where atmospheric conditions—warm, moist air from the Gulf meeting cooler air from the interior and strong upper-level winds—frequently create the supercell thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes. The other options describe different weather events—drought, tropical cyclones that form over oceans, and winter storms with heavy snow—so they don’t capture the characteristic shape and intense winds of a tornado as well as the funnel-shaped, high-wind storm found in the United States.