ATOC 1050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Tornado Warning, Multiple-Vortex Tornado, Weather Radar
15 Nov 2016
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Chapter 10 (continued part 4): thunderstorms and tornadoes: tornado watches: alert the public to the possibility of tornadoes over a specified area for a particular time interval. Warnings pertain to a specific county or counties and last for about. Vortex tubes: the wind shear causes the air near the surface to rotate about a horizontal axis. The strong updraft within the developing thunderstorm tilts the rotating tube upward and draws it into the storm. This rotating shaft in the updraft lowers the pressure in the updraft and enhances rising motion (i. e. adds more fuel to the storm) The updraft is so strong that precipitation cannot fall through it- bounded weak echo region (bwer) Although, the precipitation does not get wrapped around the rotating shaft- hook echo. The updraft, the counterclockwise swirling precipitation, and the surrounding air create the rear flank downdraft. The formation of the rear flank downdraft seems to play an important role in the formation of tornadoes.
