LARGEST TORNADO STUDY UNDER WAY

VORTEX2 (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment 2) is an $11.9 million program, founded primarily by the National Science Foundation, aimed at intercepting and studying tornadoes in the most active area in the world, our Great Plains. 

From May 1st to June 30th, more than 100 researchers from across the world are crossing the 900 miles of plains from West Texas to southwestern Minnesota in search of tornadoes.  The unprecedented fleet of mobile radars and other cutting-edge tools is in the second and final year of the most ambitious tornado study. 

The researchers hope to answer these critical questions:
1. How do tornadoes form?
2. Why do some supercell thunderstorms spawn tornadoes while others do not?
3. Why are some tornadoes violent and long-lasting while others are weak and short-lived?
4. How much detail can we see inside a tornado?
5. How strong are winds near the ground?
6. How do they cause damage?
7. Can forecasts be improved?
8. Is it possible to improve forecast accuracy (now around 25%) and warn residents a half hour or more in advance?

In order to answer these questions, the flotilla of instruments used include 10 mobile radars, more than three dozen portable surface weather stations, and a robotic 12-foot propeller aircraft to probe the edges of severe storms. 

The instruments have a resolution as fine as 100 feet and time steps as small as 10 seconds.  Their main focus is to track the rapidly changing contrasts in winds and temperatures along with precipitation in and near tornadoes.  Most of the time, standard stationary observations are too far away.  Also, researchers will capitalize on the unusual mass of mobile instruments to collect data on other major weather events in the region like squall lines.

The collaborative international project will examine in detail how tornadoes form and the patterns of damage they cause. The findings are already leading to a greater understanding of tornadoes, and scientists expect they will ultimately improve tornado warnings and short-term severe weather forecasts.

Participants in VORTEX2 come from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR), Rasmussen Systems, NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), NOAA Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma (CIMMS), Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech University, Lyndon State College, Purdue University, North Carolina State University, the universities of Oklahoma, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Nebraska, Environment Canada, and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

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