Is a gustnado a type of tornado or not?

Question

I am doing a project on tornadoes and I have to describe the different types of tornadoes. I found different information on the "gustnado" type. Some say it is a weaker short lived tornado but others say it is not related to tornadoes at all because they are not related to mesocyclones. If you could tell me if it is or is not that would be great! Thanks!

Answer 1

Under the definition of a tornado, no it is not a tornado...  because as you state, a tornado must have an accompanying mesocyclone.

Although gustnadoes have similar attributes on a smaller scale, they just don't have the dynamics that a tornado which is part of a supercell/meso would have.