When vortices occur in liquids they are sometimes called whirlpools. Tornados are high energy air vortices, less energetic air vortices can occur as dust devils.

It is also worth mentioning that the visible tornado funnel does not have be in contact with the surface to be a tornado, it is only required that the surface wind circulation is connected. In these cases the lowest part of the tornado may remain invisible.

As a tornado persists the funnel cloud can pick up debris (dust, dirt, plants, parts of destroyed structures, etc) and some of this debris can orbit the tornado (other parts may end up lofted into the upper troposphere or centrifuged out at low levels) adding to its visual presentation.