Ralph Brown, age 12, of Peaks Island, Me., for his question:

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TORNADO AND A HURRICANE?

Hurricanes and tornadoes are tremendous storms born in our weathery atmosphere, and when they strike we can expect one thing for sure  damage and dreadful destruction. Actually these two fierce storms are quite different, not only in size but in the type of damage they cause.

Weather experts rate the tornado as the world's wildest storm. A hurricane is much bigger, a blinding blizzard is considerably colder, and a drenching cloudburst is wetter. But a tornado is the fiercest. Tornadoes are small local storms that can rip a path of destruction as much as a quarter mile wide. Though they move along the ground at a speed of 35 40 miles per hour, they generally only last a few minutes  but those few minutes can be catastrophic.

Meteorologists, scientists who study weather, do not fully understand exactly how tornadoes are born, but they do know that colliding air masses are a factor. When fast moving cold, dry air flows up over moist, tropical air, instead of wedging under it as it usually does, the warm air rushes upward at tremendous speeds. Air flowing in from the sides causes the updrafts to spin.

As the updraft spins wildly, dust and debris are drawn in and a dark funnel appears, hanging down like a great elephant trunk. Whirling winds in the funnel may be spinning at as much as 500 miles per hour, and wherever the tip touches the earth's surface total destruction results.

A hurricane is a much larger storm, sometimes more than 300 miles wide. While the damage in a tornado is caused in a matter of minutes, the hurricane lashes out for two or perhaps three days. During this time, wild winds, torrential rains and flooding cause millions of dollars in damage.

Hurricanes form out over the ocean where there is plenty of warm, moist air. As the moist air grows warmer, it begins to rise. Heavier air is swept in and drawn aloft with the light rising air in the center. The motion of the spinning earth causes the rising air to twist. As the global winds move, the young hurricane picks up speed and gains energy. The winds in the outer column of air may be blowing as much as 150 or even 200 miles per hour.    

Tornadoes are primarily a weather phenomenon of North America and Australia. In the United States most tornadoes occur in the Midwestern states, with Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi getting more than their share. Hurricanes form over all tropical oceans, and their usual path through the United States is up from Florida along the Eastern seaboard.