Pete is a competent, compassionate farmhand who helps Link and Beth's family during a severe storm. To distract the worried family from their fear, he acts as a storyteller by recounting memories from his childhood about a remarkable dog. As a child in his own stories, Pete is deeply empathetic and highly attuned to the thoughts and feelings of animals.

The narrator is an unnamed child whose age and gender are unspecified in the text. Waiting out the terrifying storm in the root cellar, the narrator is highly observant and deeply worried about their father in the fields. They find immense comfort in Pete's stories and eagerly ask questions to prompt him to keep talking.

Tornado is a large black dog who arrives at Pete's childhood home by literally being blown in by a tornado. Patient and intelligent, Tornado possesses a distinct personality and an almost human-like sense of purpose. He prefers to do things like digging holes only when there is a practical reason for it.

Pete's father is a resilient and persistently optimistic man who raises Pete during his childhood. He has a talent for finding the good in difficult situations, such as noting they needed a new roof anyway after a storm destroys theirs. He is a supportive parent with a strong moral compass and a deep sense of justice.

Pete's mother is the matriarch of Pete's childhood home. She is defined by her unerring ability to predict incoming storms simply by smelling the air. Highly protective of her children, she is deeply devoted to keeping the household running smoothly by strictly enforcing suppertime and stepping in to referee sibling disputes.

Emma Lou is Pete's sister, characterized by her assertive and sometimes dramatic personality. She is highly particular about how she manages the animals in her care and rigidly maintains routines even if the animals do not prefer them. She frequently clashes with her brothers over pranks and perceived slights.

Beth is the narrator's mother in the present timeline. She is a caring and deeply anxious presence during the storm, struggling with the thought of leaving her husband behind in the open fields as the funnel cloud bears down on their property.

Link is the narrator's father and the employer of Pete. He is caught outside in the elements when the twister strikes, becoming the primary source of fear for the family as they wait out the disaster in the root cellar.

Sammy is Pete's younger brother in the childhood timeline. He is characterized as a bit of a sore loser who gets easily frustrated by card games. He is a frequent participant in the playful bickering that fills their rural household.

Five-Thirty is a stray cat that essentially adopts Pete's family by showing up for food on a rigid, predictable schedule. Though Emma Lou attempts to claim the cat and rename her, the feline remains steadfastly independent and occasionally bothers Tornado by sleeping in his carefully dug resting holes.

The narrator's grandmother is an elder in the family who waits out the terrifying weather in the dim root cellar, sitting quietly on a pickle barrel while Pete tells his stories to pass the time.

The narrator's two brothers are young boys who weather the storm in the root cellar. Like the narrator, they are highly familiar with Pete's stories and eagerly participate in requesting their favorite specific tales about Tornado to help distract themselves from the danger outside.