Some are composed almost entirely of windblown dust and still others are composed of several mini-funnels. On average, the United States experiences 100,000 thunderstorms each year. Approximately 1,000 tornadoes develop from these storms. Although tornadoes do occur throughout the world, the United States experiences the most intense and devastating tornadoes.
Tornadoes produce the most violent winds on earth.
Tornado winds can approach speeds as high as 300 miles per hour, travel distances over 100 miles and reach heights over 60,000 feet above ground. FEMA About 42 people are killed each year because of tornadoes. All three buses cleared an eight-foot embankment without hitting it. In May 1970 a tornado in Lubbock, Texas, moved an empty fertilizer tank weighting 26,000 pounds about 3,900 feet, Investigators couldn't determine whether it was airborne all the way or whether it rolled and tumbled. In August 1990 near Plainfield, Ill, a tornado hit a tractor-trailer.