Gustnado vs. Tornado

Gustnadonoun

A specific type of short-lived, low-level rotating cloud that can form in a severe thunderstorm.

Gustnado

A gustnado is a brief, shallow surface-based vortex which forms within the downburst emanating from a thunderstorm. The name is a portmanteau by elision of , as gustnadoes form due to non-tornadic straight-line wind features in the downdraft (outflow), specifically within the gust front of strong thunderstorms.

Tornadonoun

(meteorology) A violent windstorm characterized by a mobile, twisting, funnel-shaped cloud.

Tornadonoun

A violent whirling wind; specifically (Meteorol.), a tempest distinguished by a rapid whirling and slow progressive motion, usually accompaned with severe thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, and commonly of short duration and small breadth; a small cyclone.

Tornadonoun

a localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land characterized by a funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground

Tornadonoun

a purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted

Tornado

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. The windstorm is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which, from an observer looking down toward the surface of the earth, winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern.