All watches and warnings have ended. Wed, 5/29/19
kthnry said:
Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?
Generally yes. It is one of the reasons they are so rare here.
max_weisenfeld said:
kthnry said:Generally yes. It is one of the reasons they are so rare here.
Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?
This is not true — it’s an urban legend. Tornadoes do not care about hills, mountains or anything else. I saw one in a small mountain range in Oklahoma last Wednesday.
Tornadoes are rare here typically as a result of the stable marine layer emanating off of the Atlantic Ocean, amongst other reasons.
kthnry said:
Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?
A friend of mine is a storm chaser and has been studying (and chasing) tornadoes for quite some time. She says that this is not the case. Here is her response: “Nope. Tornadoes actually happen more in mountains because the terrain is higher and it doesn't have to go quite as far for the rotation to hit the ground. I've seen tornadoes go up and down mountains, in valleys, over rivers and lakes. The asset you have there that kills less energetic systems is the sea breeze, which is basically cooler air that comes in and shuts off the storms supply of warm moist air.”
That should be it for tonight. All watches and warnings have ended.
sac said:
kthnry said:A friend of mine is a storm chaser and has been studying (and chasing) tornadoes for quite some time. She says that this is not the case. Here is her response: “Nope. Tornadoes actually happen more in mountains because the terrain is higher and it doesn't have to go quite as far for the rotation to hit the ground. I've seen tornadoes go up and down mountains, in valleys, over rivers and lakes. The asset you have there that kills less energetic systems is the sea breeze, which is basically cooler air that comes in and shuts off the storms supply of warm moist air.”
Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?
As a storm chaser and meteorologist I can tell you this is also not completely true. The terrain has nothing to do with the ability for rotation to make its way to the ground. They definitely don’t happen more in the mountains though.
Also, the sea breeze is often helpful with regards to tornadoes developing, as the breeze boundary acts as a source of near surface vorticity from which the tornado can develop.
WxNut2.0 said:
sac said:As a storm chaser and meteorologist I can tell you this is also not completely true. The terrain has nothing to do with the ability for rotation to make its way to the ground. They definitely don’t happen more in the mountains though.
kthnry said:A friend of mine is a storm chaser and has been studying (and chasing) tornadoes for quite some time. She says that this is not the case. Here is her response: “Nope. Tornadoes actually happen more in mountains because the terrain is higher and it doesn't have to go quite as far for the rotation to hit the ground. I've seen tornadoes go up and down mountains, in valleys, over rivers and lakes. The asset you have there that kills less energetic systems is the sea breeze, which is basically cooler air that comes in and shuts off the storms supply of warm moist air.”
Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?
Also, the sea breeze is often helpful with regards to tornadoes developing, as the breeze boundary acts as a source of near surface vorticity from which the tornado can develop.
Okay, but since everybody else is wrong then there must be something else that makes them so rare here and common in other places...
sprout said:
Scully said:
Okay, but since everybody else is wrong then there must be something else that makes them so rare here and common in other places...WxNut2.0 said:
Tornadoes are rare here typically as a result of the stable marine layer emanating off of the Atlantic Ocean, amongst other reasons.
Yes, but WxNut2.0 ALSO said:
‘Also, the sea breeze is often helpful with regards to tornadoes developing, as the breeze boundary acts as a source of near surface vorticity from which the tornado can develop. ‘
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Max, I'm curious how a tornado would behave in hilly terrain like ours. Any thoughts? Don't they run out of steam pretty quickly without a wide open space to run across?