The consideration of the effects of the incidence of tornadoes on structures is common in many countries, mainly in sensible industrial installations, in which the consequences of an eventual occurrence of such phenomenon are of large risk. In Brazil, in spite of multiple registers in some regions during the last couple of years, such studies are still incipient. A methodology for the evaluation of tornado mechanical effects on structural systems is presented. For this, the wind field model proposed by Wen (1975), based on the qualitative solution of Kuo (1971) is used, and three models of 3-D framed structures, 20, 60 and 100 m high, are analyzed. Through numerical tests, the static and dynamic response of these structures to a sampling tornado are evaluated and analyzed. Comparative analysis of the inertia and drag effects is made and a tornadic response spectrum is presented. Global effects are also evaluated, in order to infer general information on the mechanical actions of the phenomenon on structural systems. Comparisons with the Brazilian wind code provisions are presented and the simplification of considering the structure as a material point during the analysis is criticized.