As this goes on for a time, a huge thunderhead cloud is formed piled high into the sky. The activitiy of the air currents flowing upward causes friction and electrical charges form resulting in lightning. The air chills, strong winds form and rain begins to fall as the drops become too heavy to remain aloft. As the tornadoes move along a path they appear to bounce up and down on the surface. They cause terrific amounts of damage to all in their paths.
Tornadoes strike in the summer in the southeastern United States and in the plains.
It is a good practice to go to the basement of your home in case of a tornado warning and if outside, to get to a low are such as a ditch quickly as tornadoes can strike without much warning. Hurricanes are also storms characterized by violent winds greater than 75 miles per hour usually in tropical areas. However, hurricanes form more slowly and last longer than tornadoes. They also affect a far greater area. Hurricanes are called typhoons when occurring in the Pacific Ocean and willy-willies in Australia.