Tornadoes are very powerful, yet tiny storms that have destructive winds capable of leveling buildings and other structures. Winds in a tornado form a dark gray column of air (though white, bluish, or even red is possible, depending on how the Sun’s light rays might be reflecting off the tornado), with the center of the tornado acting like a vacuum, picking up objects and moving them along the storm’s path. Tornadoes can last from a few minutes to an hour or more. They are one of the most destructive forces in nature, with the largest tornadoes sometimes having diameters of over one mile (1.6 kilometers) and wreaking a path of destruction over a hundred miles (160 kilometers) long.