In Twister, the pickets on the picket fence went flying off–is that what would happen in a real tornado?
It is not probable that they would fly straight up unless they were right under the strong upward-moving air. It was an interesting special effect, but it was too far from the center of the tornado to imitate what happens in real life. Most farms have long strands of barbed wire, and the wire fences can get rolled into gigantic tangles. • Why are some tornadoes white, some black, and others red? How many colors do they come in? Most tornadoes are either white, black, or gray depending on how light is striking them. Tornadoes often occur on the west side of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon. Viewed from the west, they would look white in the strong sunlight. Viewed from the east, back lit, they would be very dark in color. All manner of greys are possible. Occasionally, a funnel may pass over a dry field and pick up massive amounts of dirt, taking on the color of the dirt, which is red in many parts of Oklahoma. • Some photos show tornadoes that don’t look like they reach the ground.
