Tornadoes: Could mystery sounds help to predict storms?

The rumbling noises that storms sometimes make could help scientists predict when and where a tornado might form.

Tornadoes form when a warm wind meets a cold one, as the two winds move around each other, a spiral of spinning air forms, known as a vortex.

Before this happens, there's usually a huge storm and there may be rain, thunder and lightning.

Scientists aren't always sure when a tornado might form, or where it might strike - until now!

They've always known that storms make mysterious rumbling noises, but they didn't know why or what the noises meant.

Now they say they've narrowed down some reasons for the sounds, and that could really help them predict the location for future tornadoes.

The noises are below the limit for human hearing, but scientists have managed to pick them up with special equipment.

Dr Brian Elbing works at Oklahoma State University, he's part of the team behind the research.

He said the signal from the storm "occurs before the tornado touches the ground, continues after it touches the ground, and then disappears some time after the tornado leaves the ground".