but I know I've seen an article where the author stated that some scientists think that when air is moving fast enough, it takes on more of the physics of a liquid.
They weren't saying this because of the air being saturated with water (tornadoes which form in very dry areas do not have visible condensation in their funnels, but they do pack a wallop, just like any tornado).
As near as I can understand from the very many articles I've read about the research into what causes tornadoes, a lot of the power in the thunderstorms which spawn them comes from the heat energy which is released when the water vapor droplets are split up in the violent updrafts within the cloud. Calculations of the heat energy released in this process shows vast amounts of energy being released in even garden variety thunderstorms. 
The National Weather Service, through their NOAA web site, and links from the Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma have tons of information on tornadoes and thunderstorms. Enjoy!
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read