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Types of tornadoes
Tornadoes are often described by their shape: thin rope tornadoes, classic cone tornadoes, wide wedge tornadoes, and multiple-vortex tornadoes with several smaller whirls inside. Shape describes appearance, not strength.
Rope tornadoes
A rope tornado is a thin, twisting, often sinuous column. Many tornadoes pass through a rope stage as they weaken, though some thin tornadoes are strong while they last.
Cone and stovepipe tornadoes
A cone tornado is narrower at the ground than at the cloud, the shape most people picture when they think of a tornado. A stovepipe tornado keeps a nearly constant width from cloud to ground.
Wedge tornadoes
A wedge is a tornado so wide that it looks wider than it is tall: a dark wall under the cloud base. Wedges are often intense, but width alone does not set the rating, and some are rain-wrapped so that they are hard to see.
Multiple-vortex tornadoes
Some strong tornadoes contain several smaller vortices that circle a common centre. The smaller whirls can cause narrow streaks of much heavier damage inside a wider path.
Landspouts and waterspouts
A landspout forms from the ground up, usually under a developing cumulus tower rather than a supercell, and is typically weaker. Waterspouts come in two kinds: tornadic ones that move from a storm out over water, and the more common fair-weather ones that form over warm water in light winds.
Sources
- NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory — Tornadoes
- National Weather Service — The Enhanced Fujita Scale
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Last reviewed 2 November 2026