Do tornadoes skip? Experts say no. Sometimes a tornado's damage path appears irregular, leaving some buildings demolished but others in the same path relatively undamaged. This gives the impression the funnel skipped over the less-damaged buildings.

Does size matter in a tornado? In other words, do the biggest tornadoes produce the strongest winds and thus the most damage? One prominent tornado researcher says "yes, bigger equals stronger".

Since tornadoes are so elusive and so violent, it's almost impossible to get accurate wind speeds from inside the funnel. So scientists have developed a scale that allows an estimate of a tornado's wind speed by examining the damage left behind.