Ahead of the film release: Defining twister terms

Tornadoes are among the fiercest and awe-inspiring natural disasters to hit Earth, but are you aware of how they form their famous spirals?

With Twisters set to release in theaters nationally on Wednesday, July 17th, here are some tornado facts you might like to know ahead of your theater trip. A "typical" tornado usually comes from a supercell storm, while landspouts are not produced by supercells.

They form from rotating thunderstorms that have a well-defined mesocyclone, or rotating updraft. This is a supercell thunderstorm. Tornadoes usually occur over land and are often accompanied by strong winds, hail, and heavy rain.

However, another type are landspouts. Landspouts form over land but are generally smaller and weaker than tornadoes produced by supercells. They form from the ground up, rather than from a mesocyclone, and are associated with shallow, low-precipitation thunderstorms.

Waterspouts can then be either tornadic, or non-tornadic, and are atmospheric vortices that form over water. They can occur in tropical and non-tropical environments and are often associated with thunderstorms, but they can also form without thunderstorm activity.

Make sure to come back to our app every evening to learn more about these phenomena. Each evening we will showcase a different aspect including how our chasers come face to face with these monsters and their aftermath.