Severe Storms

Most Violent weather is associated

with low pressure systems
because air of different
properties mixes there
Thunderstorms
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Winter Storms

Thunderstorms
Flash Flooding
Hail
Lightning
Downbursts
Tornadoes

Flash Flooding

Lightning

Thunder

Thunder and Lightning

Superheated air expands and
creates shock wave
Can be heard up to 30 miles away
Flash-Sound Interval: 5 sec/mi (3
sec/km)
Not one second = one mile
Heat Lightning is ordinary
lightning illuminating the clouds

Lightning Rods
Benjamin Franklin, 1752
Do not allow lightning strikes to be
conducted to the ground
Pointed shape allows excess
charge to bleed harmlessly into the
atmosphere (corona discharge)

Mammatus

Squall Line

The Fujita Scale

Based on Damage and Engineering
Studies
F0 40-73 mph 29%
F1 74-112 mph 40%
F2 113-157 mph
24%
F3 158-206 mph
6%
F4 207-260 mph
2%
F5 261-318 mph
<1 %
F6?
How to identify?

Conditions for Tornado

Formation
Energy Source (convection or uplift)
Cold Front and Squall Line
Supercells and Mesocyclones

Vorticity (something to create a spin)

Usually but not always spin according
to Coriolis Effect
Spin is indirectly connected inherited from larger weather systems

Mesocyclone

Mesocyclone, Door County, August

2007

Door County Tornado, August

1998

Door County Tornado,

August 1998

Door County Tornado,

August 1998

Door County Tornado, August

1998

Door County Tornado,

August 1998

Door County Tornado,

August 1998

Door County Tornado,

August 1998

Langlade County Tornado

2007

Where Tornados Occur

U.S. and Canada probably have
most severe storms
Cool Canadian air meets warm,
moist Gulf air
Highest reported frequency by
area is Britain
Other places: India, Australia,
China

Tornado Myths
Take shelter in the southwest corner
Take shelter under a bridge or
overpass
Open windows to equalize pressure
Buildings explode from pressure drop
Tornados avoid rivers, hills, mountains
Certain localities are protected
Tornados avoid cities
Should you attempt to evade?

Fort Worth, Texas, March 28,

2000

Tornadoes do not avoid

cities

Things Often Mistaken For

Tornadoes
Heavy Precipitation
Downbursts
Dust Devils
Cold Funnels
If Theres No Evidence of Rotation,
Its Not a Tornado

Virga

Downburst, May 1994

Downburst Damage,
Ontario

Dust Devil

Cold Funnels

Cold Funnels

Hurricanes
Hurricane: Atlantic and East Pacific
Typhoon: West Pacific
Cyclone: Indian Ocean
Intense Low-Pressure Systems
Need 60 m (200 feet) of ocean
water at 26.5 C or warmer to form

World Hurricane Tracks

1995-2003

Hurricane Forming Regions

Hurricane-Free Regions
No Coriolis effect at equator, hence no
hurricanes within 5 degrees of equator
No warm sea water in South Atlantic,
hence no South Atlantic Hurricanes
No warm sea water in Southeast Pacific,
hence no Southeast Pacific Hurricanes
Apart from Caribbean coast, no
hurricanes in South America (maybe?)

March 2004: Brazils First

Hurricane?

Coriolis Effect at Equator

Coriolis Effect at Equator

Coriolis Effect at Equator

Westbound: Deflected away from
Equator
Eastbound: Directed along Equator
Unlikely for winds but does happen
in oceans (Equatorial
Countercurrent)
Weather systems cant spin

Saffir-Simpson Scale
Defined by instruments
1. 74-95 mph
1-2m storm
surge
2. 96-110 mph
2-3 m
3. 111-130 mph 3-4 m
4. 131-155 mph 4-6 m
5. >155 mph
>6m

Naming Hurricanes
No naming system until 1953
Womens names 1953-79
Regional Name Lists
Lists maintained by World
Meteorological Organization
Names can be retired after
especially significant storms

Naming Hurricanes

Dangers of Hurricanes
Wind Pressure
Flying Debris
Storm Surge
Flash Flooding
Tornadoes

Eye of Hurricanes
100 km or less in diameter
30 minutes or so calm weather
Definitely not the end of the storm!
Post-eye storm is stronger
Centrifugal force counteracts inward
air flow
In strongest storms, air flow can get so
congested a second eyewall forms
(Andrew)

Trailing Side is Most

Dangerous

Decay of Hurricanes
Need warm water for energy
Decay rapidly over land
Lose strength over cold water
Can still cause destructive flooding
long after cyclonic structure is gone
Degenerate into low pressure
systems

Cold Water Trail

Extratropical Hurricanes

Two-Ocean Hurricanes

Winter Storms
Blizzard = Blowing snow and
reduced visibility
Main Hazards

Vehicle accidents
Hypothermia
Exertion
Immobility

Great Blizzards
Schoolhouse Blizzard, DakotasNebraska, Jan. 12, 1888: 235 killed
Great Blizzard, East Coast, March
12, 1888: 400 killed, 200 ships sunk
Armistice Day Blizzard, upper
Midwest, Nov. 11, 1940: 154 killed
Storm of the Century, March 12,
1993: Eastern U.S.: 270 died and 48
missing at sea