What Really Happens Inside a Tornado

On June 22, 1928, Kansas farmer Will Keller got a view few humans have lived to describe. As a tornado passed directly over his storm cellar, he looked up into its hollow core—a smooth tube extending upward half a mile, illuminated by continuous lightning. His account remains one of the most detailed glimpses into a tornado's heart.

Modern science has revealed what Keller witnessed, though tornadoes still guard many secrets. Inside these violent funnels, the normal rules of physics get pushed to extremes.

The Physics of Destruction

Tornadoes form when rotating air gets tilted vertical by a thunderstorm's updraft. Once upright, the spin tightens dramatically—like a figure skater pulling in their arms. But the funnel isn't a simple tube. Multiple smaller vortices orbit the main circulation, explaining why damage looks so random. One house vanishes while its neighbor keeps its roof.

The pressure inside strong tornadoes plummets dangerously. In 2003, researcher Tim Samaras placed instruments in an F4 tornado's path near Manchester, South Dakota. His probe recorded a 100-millibar pressure drop—enough to burst eardrums. This explains why sealed buildings sometimes explode outward during tornadoes. The higher pressure inside tries to equalize violently.