Make a tornado in a bottle
16 April 2025
Make a tornado in a bottle FACT: England holds the world record for the most tornadoes per square kilometre. It’s
FACT: England holds the world record for the most tornadoes per square kilometre.
It’s true! According to Guinness World Records, between 1980 and 2012, there were 2.2 tornadoes per year per 10,000 km2 in England. Most of the tornadoes struck in the Thames Valley. It’s England’s own Tornado Alley!
The real Tornado Alley is home to the most destructive tornadoes in the world. It’s located in the southern Great Plains of the United States of America. Here, warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets cool dry air from the Rocky Mountains, creating ideal conditions for twisters.
The storm season runs from March to June, with most tornadoes forming in the warmest part of the day (between 4–7pm).
A tornado is a violently turning column of air, which reaches from the clouds to the ground. This is why they are often described as twisters.
Dust and debris get swept up in the air current. If the wind is fast enough, it creates an area of very low pressure, which can make any water in the air condense into cloud droplets. When this happens you can see a condensation funnel.
Tornadoes usually rotate anticlockwise (when viewed from above) in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
The funnel might be a narrow stovepipe shape (above) or a wider wedge shape (below). They can range in size from a few metres wide to a record-breaking 4.2-km-wide funnel, as recorded in El Reno, Oklahoma in 2013.
Tornado strength is measured on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
A fajita scale? Yum! Ed
No, a Fujita scale. Don’t be silly.
The most damaging UK tornado in recent years occurred in Birmingham in July 2005. In the space of eight minutes it uprooted trees, removed roofs and flung cars around. It is thought to have reached EF3 at its most damaging point.
In the USA, most of the tornadoes are also low on the scale, but 4.9 per cent are EF3-4; equally or more damaging than the Birmingham Tornado. Just 0.1 per cent reach the incredibly damaging EF5 category. However, with around 1,200 tornadoes a year in the USA, EF5 storms are more likely here than anywhere else.
The Tri-State Tornado (USA, 1925) is believed to have been an EF5 storm. It is regarded as the deadliest tornado on record. It killed 695 people. Since this time, tornado warning systems have improved immensely and it is very unlikely there will be such loss of life again.
Tornadoes form at mid-latitudes. This includes the USA, much of Europe, New Zealand, parts of Australia, Bangladesh, eastern India and countries in southern Africa. To become powerful, they need some very specific conditions.
Warm moist air (from the sea) meets cool dry air (usually from the mountains) and creates thunderstorms. If there is a lifting of the air, as happens at a weather front, and there is wind shear (wind is moving in different directions at different heights) you get the right conditions for a supercell to form. The most destructive tornadoes come from supercells.
We still don’t fully understand tornadoes, but weather satellites are providing data, which will help. Photographs, film and data collected on the ground by storm chasers add to this. Storm chasers can also provide eye-witness information on where tornadoes are forming, clarifying information from weather satellites and helping residents get to safety.
You will need:
– 2 empty 2-litre straight-sided pop bottles (lids removed)
– Duct tape or similar strong sticky tape
– Scissors
– Water
– Washer and leaves (both optional)
STEP 1: Two-thirds fill one bottle.
STEP 2: Place the second bottle on top of the first, so that the two necks meet.
STEP 3: Cut a 15-cm-length of sticky tape and wrap it firmly round the join so no water can escape. Make sure it is nice and rigid too.
STEP 4: Quickly turn your tornado-maker so the water-filled bottle is at the top and swirl it round in a circular motion. A tornado should appear – it might take a little practice!
STEP 5: Modify! Place a large washer between the two bottle mouths. This will narrow the hole through which the water can pass. How does this change things?
STEP 6: Modify! Add things to your water to help you see how it moves – try making leaf confetti with a hole-punch and some thick glossy leaves (like holly). It’s much better for the environment than glitter!
Water is pulled down from the top bottle by gravity. When you swirl the bottle around, the water in contact with the bottle wall moves more slowly (due to friction) than the water in the centre. This creates a vortex (like a tornado) with water pouring down the outside edge from the top bottle to the bottom, while air from the bottom bottle moves to the top through the centre. If you try without swirling the bottle, you’ll just get the usual glugging bubbles.
To find out more about other weird things on earth, then why not think about a subscription to AQUILA magazine!
Words: Dr Sarah Bearchell. Illustration: Robbie Cathro
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