2 Tornadoes

[Caleb Routt]

Soo i've been wondering how does a supercell produce 2 tornadoes at the same time? Just like on the days of June, 16, 17 and 18. I've noticed usually when there are 2 going on one is occluding and the other is just developing but that wasn't the case for those days both tornadoes stayed on the ground roughly the same time. So does it have anything to do with those horizontal tubes being tilted?

 

[Royce Sheibal]

I'm no PHD in thermodynamics, but people often associate the mesoscale rotation too much with the tornado itself. The tornado is a result of the mesoscale environment, not a true extension of it. A tornado is the rapid focus of all of that mesoscale voritcity, both vertical and horizontal. If the meso is strong enough to support multiple tors, it can and will produce multiples at once. Because the interaction between cyclones isn't destructive, but mutual (as in the fujiwhara effect), the focii can co-exist so long as there is enough juice in the environment for this to happen. Typically one tornado occurs, but in some extreme cases multiple focii may form under a single meso or due to meso cycling / splitting / backbuilding. Grand Island, NE 1980 is a great example.

edit: spelling fail