Reply #5: I think it's more complicated than "just wind"

[starroute]

I've been reading around a little and trying to understand it. Most of what I've found gets too technical for me, but there are two things I'm taking away from what I've read:

1) A tornado is something like a tsunami, which is fairly mild if you encounter it at sea but releases all its energy when it hits the shore. In the same way, a tornado forms aloft but releases an enormous amount of energy when it touches the ground.

2) Tornadoes have an energy sources that is apparently electrical in nature, derived from the potential gradients in a major thunderstorm cell. This means that they don't just release their energy when they hit the ground and then subside. They're not like hurricanes, which weaken and start to lose their structure as soon as they are no longer over water. Instead, tornadoes keep drawing more power from the cell and can remain intact and at full force to do damage along an extended track.