Corrected entry: In multiple scenes in the movie, you see objects flying through the air like the cow, yet the tornado itself is a good distance away (at least a half mile). This simply isn't possible, in fact, at that distance from a tornado you normally will either have calm air or strong DOWNDRAFTS, certainly not objects floating around. Only in the tornado itself will objects be flying in the air, and they basically will be lifted up, then dropped, as the tornado passes over.
logician
14th Jul 2009
Correction: It seems you're mistaking the funnel (or condensation) cloud for the tornado itself when really it's a *part* of the tornado. The areas around the condensation cloud (particularly in the inward flow boundary where wind goes from horizontal to vertical) are wracked with violent winds. In images of tornadoes that touch down, the inward flow boundary is often seen as a fountain of dust and debris shooting up in the air near where the funnel touches down. This is where the characters are situated during these scenes. They are not a half-mile away from the tornado... they are *in* the tornado, just not in the core of it.
JC Fernandez