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Types of Tornadoes and Other Whirls

Tornadoes are defined as "a violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a thunderstorm." Tornadoes from supercell thunderstorms have the potential to be the strongest but come in a wide variety of strengths. Landspouts and waterspouts tend to have weaker maximum potential strength but can be damaging over a small area. Other types of whirls in the lower atmosphere, which are often too small and short-lived to be documented as tornadoes, include gustnadoes, dust devils, and fire whirls.