How do tornados stay on the ground for so long ?

Question

How do tornados stay on the ground for so long ?

Answer 1

By far the great majority of tornadoes do not stay on the ground for very long, i.e. less than 10 minutes.  In relatively rare cases they can stay on the ground much longer than that if the tornado can maintain access to the unstable air and good low level shear (winds changing speed and direction with height), which is what fuels them.  Usually what happens is that after a short time the tornado gets cut off from this needed air by processes in and around the parent thunderstorms, and the tornado dissipates.