Tornadogenesis is a process that is currently poorly understood. Tornado warnings have notorious high false alarm rates and short lead times. Recent observations of descending cores of high radar reflectivity, also known as “blobs”, prior to tornadogenesis suggest there may be an association with the development of tornadoes. Using WSR-88D Doppler radar data, we examined the region of the storm known as the hook-echo for “blob” signatures. To test our hypothesis we will be using a data set of both tornadic and non-tornadic Supercell thunderstorms which have passed within 50 km to Doppler radar sites, to ensure the best possible spatial resolution of the radar. The timing of tornadogensis relative to the descent of the “blob” will be presented.
|Presenter:||Jennifer Belge (Undergraduate Student)|
|Time:||9:15 am (Session I)|