Wedge, Rope, Cone: What Meteorologists Call Different Types Of Tornadoes

Tornadoes come in multiple different forms that meteorologists often call by descriptive names. Wedge, rope and cone are a few you might have heard of before.

Here's a quick rundown of the different types of tornadoes you might hear about most often, and what they mean.

1. W​edge Tornado

Wedge tornado is a slang term used by meteorologists and storm spotters to describe a wide tornado, but not every large tornado is considered a wedge.

In general, a wedge tornado should be "at least as wide (horizontally) at the ground as it is tall (vertically) from the ground to cloud base," according to the National Weather Service.

Many wedge tornadoes are violent, causing EF4 or EF5 damage, but not all of them are that strong. An example of a wedge tornado is the EF5 that struck Joplin, Missouri, in May 2011.

2. Multi-Vortex Tornado

As the name implies, this tornado has multiple vortices rotating around a center of a larger tornado circulation.

These so-called suction vortices are occasionally visible if the larger tornado circulation doesn't have too much debris to obscure them. The Storm Prediction Center says multi-vortex tornadoes are capable of causing "narrow, short, extreme swaths of damage that sometimes arc through tornado tracks."

A tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013, is an example of this type of tornado and featured intense vortices within its larger circulation. Mobile Doppler Radar measured winds of 200 mph or greater associated with those vortices, illustrating how they can cause smaller areas of extreme damage.

3. R​ain-Wrapped Tornado

This type of tornado is obscured by heavy rainfall, and sometimes it's impossible to know if a twister is there unless verified by radar or other sources.

Rain-wrapped tornadoes are associated with high-precipitation supercell thunderstorms or can be embedded within squall lines (a line of intense thunderstorms).

4. C​one And Stovepipe Tornadoes

These two types of tornadoes are similar in appearance.

A stovepipe tornado is about as wide near the cloud base as it is along the ground. They are tall and narrow, just like a stovepipe.

6. R​ope Tornado

Sometimes you'll hear meteorologists or storm spotters say, "The tornado is roping out."

This is a reference to a tornado ending its life cycle where it appears as a rope-like appendage hanging from the cloud base. Though the so-called rope tornado may appear narrow and more elongated horizontally than earlier in its life cycle, it's still capable of significant damage on the ground until it ends.

Once the tornado has dissipated, a new twister could develop from the same supercell thunderstorm should a new area of rotation form.

7. L​andspout

A landspout is a tornado that does not develop from a supercell thunderstorm as a wedge or cone tornado would.

Instead, they form when a developing towering cumulus cloud occurs over any near-surface boundary of converging winds. In other words, the area of rotation originates near the surface rather than aloft. That rotating air is stretched vertically and eventually grows into a landspout.

(​VIDEO: Kansas Landspout)

8. W​aterspout

T​here are two types of waterspouts, and both are tornadoes that form in different ways.

So-called "fair-weather waterspouts" are the most common type and we often see them form near the warm waters surrounding Florida. They are not associated with thunderstorms and the source of spin for their development is near the surface of the water rather than aloft and in a thunderstorm. These waterspouts mostly stay over the open water as a hazard to mariners.

Less common are "tornadic waterspouts", which form from thunderstorms. These more dangerous waterspouts can either form over water and cross onto land, or come from a land area and move over water like a lake or river.

Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.