1. Tornadoes
Tornadoes 101

2. Tornado Alley
Average number of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles by state,

3. Multivortex Tornadoes

4. Enhanced Fujita Scale

5. EF Rating Can Change
McConnell AFB Footage

6. Tornadoes and Thunderstorms
Most violent tornadoes come from supercells
Updrafts can be 150 mph
Horizontal wind with strong velocity sheer causes rotation about horizontal axis
Caught by updraft it turns vertical
Spinning column of air narrows and picks up speed
Initial tornado formation (only 1st minute)
Cool downdraft air eventually dissipates tornado
Inside a forming tornado

7. Tornado-Thunderstorm Connection
Schematic (side) view of a tornadic supercell thunderstorm
Plan (top) view of a tornadic supercell thunderstorm
Most mesoclyclonic wall clouds do not produce tornadoes

8. Monitoring Tornadic ThunderstormsB
Hook echo.
Tornado vortex signature (TVS).
On 3 May 1999, an F-5 tornado devastated Moore, OK.

9. North Carolina Tornado Outbreak 4/16/2011

10. Monitoring Tornadic Thunderstorms
April 16, 2011, North Carolina tornado outbreak 4:40 pm DST
Smithfield
Hook echo on base reflectivity image.
Four Oaks
Tornado vortex signature (TVS) on storm relative image.