WW2010
University of Illinois

WW2010
 
welcome
 
online guides
 
archives
 
educational cd-rom
 
current weather
 
about ww2010
 
index

Online Guides
 
introduction
 
meteorology
 
remote sensing
 
reading maps
 
projects, activities

Meteorology
 
introduction
 
air masses, fronts
 
clouds, precipitation
 
el nino
 
forces, winds
 
hurricanes
 
hydrologic cycle
 
light, optics
 
midlatitude cyclones
 
severe storms
 
weather forecasting

Severe Storms
 
introduction
 
dangers of t-storms
 
types of t-storms
 
tstorm components
 
tornadoes
 
modeling

Types of T-storms
 
storm spectrum
 
single cell storms
 
multicell clusters
 
multicell lines
 
supercells

Supercells
 
introduction
 
on radar
 
schematic diagrams
 
features
 
variations
 
hp supercells
 
lp supercells
 
multicell to supercell
 
tornadic supercell

HP Supercells
 
introduction
 
characteristics
 
westward view
 
flow field
 
outflow boundary

User Interface
 
graphics
text

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Flow Field of Tornadic HP Supercells
inflow and outflow

A few HP storms do produce violent tornadoes. When they occur, the tornadoes often will be wrapped in precipitation and quite difficult to observe. The photographer heard a roaring sound, and ran outside where he had this westward view. Behind the super-imposed inflow arrows is a wall cloud, with a rain area and RFD wrapping from left to right around the wall cloud's southeast flank. This rain shaft is visual manifestation of the radar hook (an unusually "fat" radar hook in this case) wrapping around the wall cloud and developing tornado.

[Image: westward view of tornadic hp supercell (79K)]
Photograph by: NSSL

We are in a position of strong inflow, as noted by the northward-bending trees (in the image below). However, a gust front (blue, descending arrows) is accompanying the precipitation and approaching the photographic position. The brunt of the HP storm's precipitation area is out of the photo and to the right (northeast of the wall cloud).

[Image: tornado hidden by rain curtain (80K)]
Photograph by: NSSL

Still hearing a roaring sound, the photographer shifted his view a bit towards the northwest. Almost hidden behind the advancing rotating rain curtain is a large and devastating tornado!

[Image: tornado visible through precipitation (77K)]
Photograph by: NSSL

The rain curtains that wrap around an HP supercell's tornado often change very quickly in appearance. Minutes later, the tornado is not quite as obscured by the precipitation. View these three slides a second time and observe the advance of the rain curtain and gust front. The tornado was continuing to receive a narrow corridor of inflow from the northeast at this time, as it approached Drumwright, Oklahoma. Fourteen people were killed by this violent 1974 tornado.



westward view
Terms for using data resources. CD-ROM available.
Credits and Acknowledgments for WW2010.
Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

outflow boundary