I find it fascinating that areas in North Alabama (same towns as the recent outbreak) are once again being affected by tornadoes.. Multiple couplets moving over the same areas again and again. I still believe this area is a real hotbed for activity even more so than tornado alley in the Midwest!
Alabama tornadoes March 2nd
- Thread starter brentford
- Start date
joel ewing
EF5
In recent years there has been quite a bit of action in some of those areas....but I guess to validate your statement, you'd have to look up the county statistics from 1950 to the present. I wouldn't bet that it was more of a hotbed than many places in the midwest. But it would be interesting to find out.
After seeing yesterday I'm curious to know how those general areas can reload one time after another. Many of the same places saw multiple supercells yesterday. I would think the air mass would be worked over to an extent after some of the other early morning storms but that wasn't the case. That area around Chattanooga had a train of supercells throughout the day. Boundaries? Another perfect setup? What gives in those areas?
joel ewing
EF5
That's a question that I didn't consider. Perhaps it's a function of the extreme dynamics that manages to overcome what must be a worked-over atmosphere. I know that two Octobers ago, Northern Arizona had a rare tornado outbreak that saw many long-track (40 miles) violent tornadoes that were working with surface temps AND dewpoints in the mid-40's....in the middle of the night, of all things. But the dynamics were perfect, and made up for the lack of the normal necessary ingrediants.
Stan Rose
EF5
I dont think the atmosphere was sufficiently 'worked over'. And if it was, locally, then it was quickly destabilized by the strong dynamics, as Joel said.
The prefrontal environment was temps in the 60s-70s and dews in the upper 50s-low 60s for most of the day. And obviously the shear was insane. Multiple lines of storms are pretty much the norm in major outbreaks like this.
The prefrontal environment was temps in the 60s-70s and dews in the upper 50s-low 60s for most of the day. And obviously the shear was insane. Multiple lines of storms are pretty much the norm in major outbreaks like this.
Jordan Bell
EF0
Its very interesting. My mentor from my summer internship, lives in the area that was hard hit by the EF-4 in Madson CO. His house just had cosmetic damage I believe, and then yesterday he avoid disaster again as the first supercell's tornado lifted very close to his house and the 2nd supercell just went south of his house. My personal belief is that this area could be a hotbed because not only because the dynamics have come together, but also that the terrain may be playing a part in this.
Never thought about terrain playing apart of that, interesting thought. I do know one thing is in my 30 yrs of living in Ft Worth I can never EVER recall a day where we were under the gun where multiple storms threatened the area. I just do not find this North Texas area very favorable for outbreaks.
brice.coffer
EF0
Tornadoes can happen in any terrain, from the coasts of Miami to the mountains of Yellowstone. There are surely some weird dynamics around hilly areas, but truthfully the most favorable terrain in the world for tornadoes is in the Plains. Increasing elevation from west AR/MO to the foothills of the Rockies causes the dryline and the nocturnal low-level jet.
You don't see 'reloading' in the Plains because convection often forms along the dryline. The dryline will continue to move east until sunset, and once storms and the dryline move through an area, the potential for new storm development is non-existent.
You don't see 'reloading' in the Plains because convection often forms along the dryline. The dryline will continue to move east until sunset, and once storms and the dryline move through an area, the potential for new storm development is non-existent.
Wes Carter
EF5
I remember a conversation I had with Dr Jerry Orchanian with the Nashville office of the NWS about northern Alabama, Giles county, Clarksville, and Lawrence county getting what seemed to be a larger number of tornado warnings. He discussed the usual things that can skew the numbers such as distance from radar site, the spotter community, etc... But he saw enough of a difference in numbers in both reports and damage assessments to look at it a bit more.
He was looking at the role that orographic lifting might play in the process. When I talked to him I was very new to chasing, so we didn't go in depth. But after talking to others on here and reading I've often wondered whether it could play a role in storms becoming more surface based.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
He was looking at the role that orographic lifting might play in the process. When I talked to him I was very new to chasing, so we didn't go in depth. But after talking to others on here and reading I've often wondered whether it could play a role in storms becoming more surface based.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
Jordan Bell
EF0
Wes, its definitely something I would like to learn more about. I haven't seen a lot of literature on it, but with the outbreaks in not so flat KY, TN, AL area and the way cells sometimes act over the Ozarks, its definitely a theory that should be looked at more.
Take the May 24th outbreak in Oklahoma last year, at least from memory it was a broken line of supercells. The dryline fired but there were not numerous storms in the warm sector at all ahead of the main line. It seems with these outbreaks further east multiple storms fire and locations can see round after round throughout the day. I don't recall many recent outbreaks in the Plains behaving like that.
Greg Higgins
Supporter
Two observations.........Fort Worth has had several incidents over the past few years of "being under the gun and was threatened by multiple storms". Drop by the local NWS; I'm sure they would be happy to educate you. Regarding "terrain affecting the weather", Al Moeller and others back in the 90's wrote several papers regarding the Texas caprock and it's affect on convective weather. Al was also looking at the "hills" to the west of Fort Worth (Ranger Hill along I-20) as also playing a part in enhancing convective weather. I don't know if he ever finished that research but we talked about it on several occasions. Interesting theories!
William Monfredo
EF3
And in the case of AZ, while atmospheric instability was not surface-based, there was ample energy in the form of elevated instability. Geographically, it's also intriguing to consider the lee sides of mountainous areas where vorticity is conserved, and so possess areas of enhanced spin.
Jim Tang
EF3
I've forgotten where I read this, but apparently the Wichita Mountains in SW OK aid with convective initiation (via orographic lifting or localized dryline sharpening, I don't remember). Storms that develop in that area usually propagate NE, mature, and become tornadic as they approach OKC, and as a result the OKC-Norman corridor is a hotbed for tornadic activity. (10/4/98, 5/3/99, 5/8/03, 5/10/10, 5/24/11 being recent examples of this happening)
Similar threads
