Tropical Cyclone Tornado Research Articles

Factors contributing to tornadogenesis in landfalling Gulf of Mexico tropical cyclones

ABSTRACTTropical cyclone tornadoes (TCTs) are brief and often unpredictable events that can produce fatalities and create considerable economic loss. Given these uncertainties, it is important to understand the characteristics and factors that contribute to tornado formation within tropical cyclones. This research analyses this hazardous phenomenon, examining the relationships among tropical cyclone intensity, size and tornado output. Furthermore, the influences of severe weather parameters on tornado output near the time of tornado formation were assessed between two phases of a tropical cyclone's life cycle: during hurricane and tropical storm intensity, termed tropical cyclone tornadoes (TCTs), and during tropical depression and remnant low intensity, termed tropical low tornadoes (TLTs). Results show that tornado output is significantly influenced by tropical cyclone intensity. Values for storm relative helicity, energy helicity index, and severe weather threat index are significantly higher within TCT environments, thus resulting in more tornadoes.

Convective Modes for Significant Severe Thunderstorms in the Contiguous United States. Part III: Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes

Abstract A gridded, hourly, three-dimensional environmental mesoanalysis database at the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), based on objectively analyzed surface observations blended with the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) model-analysis fields and described in Parts I and II of this series, is applied to a 2003–11 subset of the SPC tropical cyclone (TC) tornado records. Distributions of environmental convective parameters, derived from SPC hourly mesoanalysis fields that have been related to supercells and tornadoes in the midlatitudes, are evaluated for their pertinence to TC tornado occurrence. The main factor differentiating TC from non-TC tornado environments is much greater deep-tropospheric moisture, associated with reduced lapse rates, lower CAPE, and smaller and more compressed distributions of parameters derived from CAPE and vertical shear. For weak and strong TC tornado categories (EF0–EF1 and EF2–EF3 on the enhanced Fujita scale, respectively), little distinction is evident across most parameters. Radar reflectivity and velocity data also are examined for the same subset of TC tornadoes, in order to determine parent convective modes (e.g., discrete, linear, clustered, supercellular vs nonsupercellular), and the association of those modes with several mesoanalysis parameters. Supercellular TC tornadoes are accompanied by somewhat greater vertical shear than those occurring from other modes. Tornadoes accompanying nonsupercellular radar echoes tend to occur closer to the TC center, where CAPE and shear tend to weaken relative to the outer TC envelope, though there is considerable overlap of their respective radial distributions and environmental parameter spaces.

Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes, 1950–2007

Abstract An expanded “climatology” of U.S. tropical cyclone (TC) tornadoes covering the period 1950–2007 is presented. A major climatology published in 1991 included data on 626 TC tornadoes. Since then, almost 1200 more TC tornado records have been identified, with almost half of that number from the 2004–05 seasons alone. This work reexamines some findings from previous studies, using a substantially larger database. The new analyses strongly support distinctions between inner- and outer-region tornadoes, which were suggested in previous studies. Outer-region tornadoes (beyond 200 km from the TC center) have a stronger diurnal signal, commonly occurring during the afternoon. Inner-region tornadoes typically occur within ∼12 h of TC landfall, with no strong preference for a particular time of day. They are disproportionately less damaging tornadoes, with more rated F0 than in the outer-region sample. In more general terms, the TC tornado database includes a smaller percentage of significant (≥F2) tornadoes (14%) than does the overall U.S. tornado database (22%). Most TC tornadoes (60%) occur within 100 km of the coast; this includes core-region tornadoes near the time of landfall as well as tornadoes from rainbands coming ashore far from the circulation center. The F0-rated tornadoes are slightly more common near the coast but compose a smaller percentage of the tornadoes inland. The threat often persists for 2–3 days after landfall and extends ∼400 km inland and ∼500 km from the TC center, although there is much case-to-case variability. This puts locations at risk that might otherwise avoid damage from the TC.

Miniature Supercells in an Offshore Outer Rainband of Hurricane Ivan (2004)

Airborne Doppler radar observations are used to document the structure of three miniature supercells embedded in an outer rainband of Hurricane Ivan on 15 September 2004. The cells were located more than 100 km offshore, beyond the Doppler range of coastal radars. The combination of large CAPE, large vertical wind shear, and moderate cell-relative helicity with an apparent midlevel dry air intrusion provided an offshore environment supporting rotating storms. Each shallow cell contained a ∼5–7-km-diameter mesocyclonic updraft with midlevel updraft and vorticity maxima that exceeded 6 m s−1and 0.008 s−1, respectively. Such offshore structures are consistent with miniature supercells observed onshore in association with tropical cyclone tornado outbreaks. The strong updrafts resulted from a combination of kinematic convergence, thermal instability, and shear-induced vertical perturbation pressure gradients. Mesocyclone production largely resulted from the tilting and subsequent stretching of low-level horizontal streamwise vorticity into the vertical by the strong updrafts. Evidence of baroclinic contributions from inflow along cell-generated outflow boundaries was minimal. The miniature supercells persisted for at least 3 h during transit from offshore to onshore. Tornadoes were reported in association with two cells soon after moving onshore. These observations build upon a growing body of evidence suggesting that miniature supercells often develop offshore in the outer rainbands of tropical cyclones.

Environmental Ingredients for Supercells and Tornadoes within Hurricane Ivan

Abstract Hurricane Ivan (2004) was a prolific producer of tornadoes as it made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Prior researchers have revealed that the tornadic cells within tropical cyclone (TC) rainbands are often supercellular in character. The present study investigates the utility of several common midlatitude, continental supercell and tornado diagnostic tools when applied to Hurricane Ivan’s tornado episode. The environment within Hurricane Ivan was favorable for storm rotation. While well offshore, the bands of Hurricane Ivan possessed embedded cells with mesocyclones of moderate intensity. A dual-Doppler analysis reveals that the updrafts of these cells were highly helical in the lower troposphere, suggesting significant ingestion of streamwise environmental vorticity. These coherent cells were long lived and could be tracked for multiple hours. As the supercells over the Gulf of Mexico approached the coast during Ivan’s landfall, rapid increases in midlevel vorticity and vertically integrated liquid (VIL) occurred. Based on compiled severe weather reports, these increases in storm intensity appear often to have immediately preceded tornadogenesis. The local environment for supercells in Ivan’s interior is evaluated through the use of 62 soundings from the operational land-based network and from research flights. There were substantial differences in the thermodynamic profiles and wind profiles at differing ranges from Ivan’s center, from quadrant to quadrant of Ivan’s circulation, and between land and sea. The most optimal environment for supercells and tornadoes occurred in the most interior section of Ivan’s right-front quadrant, with conditions being even more favorable over land than over the sea. For contrast, comparable values are presented for Hurricane Jeanne (2004), which was similar to Ivan in several respects, but was not a prolific tornado producer at landfall. Although both storms provided environments with comparable shallow—and deep—layer vertical wind shear, the Ivan environment had notably more CAPE, likely due to a prominent dry air intrusion. This increase in CAPE was reflected in substantial increases in common operational forecasting composite indices. The results suggest that the conventionally assessed ingredients for midlatitude continental supercells and tornadoes can be readily applied to discriminate among TC tornado episodes.

Radar Signatures of Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes in Central North Carolina

Abstract During the tropical cyclone season of 2004, there were four tropical cyclones that spawned tornadoes in central North Carolina: Frances, Gaston, Ivan, and Jeanne. This study examines the environmental characteristics and radar signatures from these events. The tornado warning decision-making process is a difficult one during any severe weather event, but it is even more difficult in a tropical cyclone environment because of the subtlety of features and rapid tornadogenesis that can occur. Previous studies that have examined the characteristics of a tropical cyclone environment found that high low-level moisture content, high shear, and a midlevel intrusion of dry air are favorable for tornadoes. The tropical cyclones that are examined in the current study all exhibited these characteristics. Radar signatures associated with these tornadoes were more subtle and weaker when compared with nontropical cyclone tornadoes, but were still discernable. This study analyzed the radar signatures from tornadic and nontornadic storms in a tropical cyclone environment with the purpose of determining the best indicators of tornadogenesis. Three precursors were found to give good lead time for tornado touchdowns: 1) a near gate-to-gate mesocyclone rotational velocity of 20 kt (10.3 m s−1) or greater, 2) a hook or appendage signature in the reflectivity data, and 3) the presence of a velocity enhancement signature of 30 kt (15.4 m s−1) or greater between 7000 ft (2.1 km) and 14 000 ft (4.2 km) AGL. Using these signatures together in the tornado warning decision-making process can increase lead time and accuracy in the tropical cyclone environment.

Doppler Radar and Lightning Network Observations of a Severe Outbreak of Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes

Data from a single WSR-88D Doppler radar and the National Lightning Detection Network are used to examine in detail the characteristics of the convective storms that produced a severe tornado outbreak within Tropical Storm Beryl's remnants on 16 August 1994. Comparison of the radar data with reports of tornadoes suggests that only 13 cells produced the 29 tornadoes that were documented in Georgia and the Carolinas on that date. Six of these cells spawned multiple tornadoes, and the radar data confirm the presence of miniature supercells. One of the cells was identifiable on radar for 11 hours, spawning tornadoes over a time period spanning approximately 6.5 hours. Several other tornadic cells also exhibited great longevity, with cell lifetimes greater than ever previously documented in a landfalling tropical cyclone tornado event, and comparable to those found in major midlatitude tornadic supercell outbreaks. Time-height analyses of the three strongest tornadic supercells are presented in order to document storm kinematic structure and to show how these storms appear at different ranges from a WSR-88D radar. In addition, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning data are examined for the outbreak, the most intense tropical cyclone tornado event studied thus far. Although the tornadic cells were responsible for most of Beryl's CG lightning, flash rates were only weak to moderate, even in the most intense supercells, and in all the tornadic storms the lightning flashes were almost entirely negative in polarity. A few of the single-tornado storms produced no detectable CG lightning at all. In the stronger cells, there is some evidence that CG lightning rates decreased during tornadogenesis, as has been documented before in some midlatitude tornadic storms. A number of the storms spawned tornadoes just after producing their final CG lightning flashes. Surprisingly, both peak currents and positive flash percentages were larger in Beryl s nontornadic storms than in the tornadic ones. Despite some intriguing patterns, the CG lightning behavior in this outbreak remains mostly inconsistent and ambiguous, and offers only secondary value for warning guidance. The present findings argue in favor of the implementation of observing systems capable of continuous monitoring of total lightning activity in storms.

Buoyancy and Shear Characteristics of Hurricane-Tornado Environments

This study presents detailed composite profiles of temperature, moisture, and wind constructed for tornado environments in tropical cyclones that affected the U.S. between 1948 and 1986. Winds are composited in components radial and tangential to the tropical cyclone center at observation time. Guided by observed patterns of tornado occurrence, composites are constructed for a variety of different stratifications of the data, including proximity to tornadoes, position relative to the cyclone center, time of day, time after cyclone landfall, cyclone translation speed, and landfall location. The composites are also compared to composite soundings from Great Plains tornado environments. A variety of sounding parameters are examined to see which are most closely related to the tornado distribution patterns. Lower-tropospheric vertical shears are found to be stronger in the tropical cyclone tornado environments than on the Great Plains. Buoyancy for the tropical cyclone tornado cases is much smaller than that seen with Great Plains tornado events and exhibits a weak negative correlation with tornado outbreak severity.