The Super Outbreak: Fairly new paper and slide show at SPC

[Nick Smith]

I was browsing the SPC publications page last night and ran across these:

Corfidi, S.F., J.J. Levit and S.J. Weiss, 2004: The Super Outbreak: Outbreak
of the Century. Preprints, 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms, Hyannis MA. [1869K PDF]

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfi...fidi/3apr74.pdf

Slideshow
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfi...ides/index.html

Just look inside, as I could write another paper talking about it all here. There's a satellite loop in the slideshow, but the link is broken There's also two radar photos on slide 61...cell in northeast part of screen is the Xenia cell (nice hook on both cells).

 

[Todd Rittinger]

Good link Nick! Man, the death tolls are astounding.

Interesting pic on slide 7:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfi...des/slide7.html
Those appear to be closely located twin monsters?

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfi...des/slide9.html
Stats there are incredible!

Be well, TR

 

[Dan Cook]

Todd:

The "double" tornado was one giant tornado.

 

[Todd Rittinger]

Amazing! What would cause the gap in the middle, or is it just a photographic illusion?

Be well, TR

 

[Robert Dewey]

It was actually one tornado from a single parent mesocyclone, but two distinct funnels exhibiting the fujiwara effect... I would suspect that the two funnels did indeed merge back together...

 

[Thomas Loades]

I think it's more like multiple vortices, but only two large ones present as opposed to five or so smaller ones. Since they were rotating around a common center, you wouldn't know that there were two if you saw the damage track. Photos taken immediately before that one show one condensation funnel, but a hint of suction vortices are just visble above the treeline.

 

[mikegeukes]

fujiwara effect

Fujiwhara effect—The tendency of two nearby tropical cyclones to rotate cyclonically about each other as a result of their circulations' mutual advection.

This occurs with some frequency in the northwestern Pacific basin, where it presents a significant forecast challenge, but happens more rarely in other ocean basins.

Source: AMS Glossary

Mike

 

[Bob Hartig]

Originally posted by rdewey
It was actually one tornado from a single parent mesocyclone, but two distinct funnels exhibiting the fujiwara effect... I would suspect that the two funnels did indeed merge back together...

That's the best-known shot in a five-photo sequence that depicts a rather small funnel sweeping in, broadening abruptly and presumably intensifying just before striking the Midway Trailer Park, dividing, then reconsolidating into a single funnel.