variants
or tornados
as in hurricanes
a violent and destructive storm in which powerful winds move around a central point
A siren alerted the town that they were in the path of a tornado. a tornado warning
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Recent Examples of tornadoes
On average, the state sees about 30 tornadoes per year.
—
Diana Leyva, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Nov. 2025
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, has written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
May in Oklahoma tends to yield storms and tornadoes.
—Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Intense thunderstorm lines can produce brief tornadoes and widespread significant wind damage.
—Star-Telegram Weather Bot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2025
Over most of the day, roughly 12 million people from eastern Texas up through western Kentucky were under a slight risk for severe weather, including the potential for damaging winds, large hail and even a few tornadoes.
—Shawnie Caslin Martucci, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2025
Severe thunderstorms may develop into supercells capable of producing isolated but significant tornadoes.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The storms could to persist in the region through the weekend, threatening additional rainfall, hail and possible tornadoes across Louisiana and Alabama.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 27 Dec. 2024
Heavy damage from natural phenomena — tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires — has been on the rise for decades.
—Erik Sherman, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
Diana Leyva, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Nov. 2025
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, has written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
May in Oklahoma tends to yield storms and tornadoes.
—Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Intense thunderstorm lines can produce brief tornadoes and widespread significant wind damage.
—Star-Telegram Weather Bot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2025
Over most of the day, roughly 12 million people from eastern Texas up through western Kentucky were under a slight risk for severe weather, including the potential for damaging winds, large hail and even a few tornadoes.
—Shawnie Caslin Martucci, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2025
Severe thunderstorms may develop into supercells capable of producing isolated but significant tornadoes.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The storms could to persist in the region through the weekend, threatening additional rainfall, hail and possible tornadoes across Louisiana and Alabama.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 27 Dec. 2024
Heavy damage from natural phenomena — tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires — has been on the rise for decades.
—Erik Sherman, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tornadoes
hurricanes
Noun
-
Some of this, of course, is related to fires in California and hurricanes in the southeast that destroyed an enormous amount of utility infrastructure.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Economic hardship, natural disasters such as hurricanes Irma and Maria, and government neglect have since forced many to leave, however.—
Ken Chitwood,
The Conversation,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tornadoes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tornadoes. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025.
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