Tornadoes Associated with Frances

[Jeff Snyder]

Didn't know whether to put this here or in the NOW/REPORTS thread for Frances...

I saw an interesting graphic on (gulp) TWC tonight... It seems that Frances has spawned more tornadoes in the U.S. than any other hurricane save one. So far, there have been 90-some tornadoes with Frances! Even more impressive, there have been 40 tornadoes associated with Frances in South Carolina. While this doesn't seem that big for Plain's chasers, is it the biggest tornado outbreak in SC history! In fact, only 2 other years have had more tornadoes than just this one event. Yesterday, when nearly 50 tornadoes were reported, shear remained very impressive across northeast GA and into the Carolinas. Additionally, decent instability was able to develop, making for a tornado-primed event. Just thought this was interesting...

For what it's worth, Frances is still a tropical depression. NHC has shifted product issuance to the HPC, which is (and has been for the past couple of days) issuing advisories for Tropical Depression Frances.

 

[Glen Romine]

This probably is in violation - though falls into the undefined realm that I noticed had cropped up in discussion in the site threads. Anyhow - I agree - this has been an amazing event in regards to tornado production. Historically, the most tornadoes with these types of events happen one to two days after landfall, so the peak in tornadoes yesterday fits this. The official count will probably vary but lots of tornadoes from Frances for sure - 80 or more perhaps. This is still well short of Buelah, which in 1967 spawned 141 tornadoes officially - a count that would probably be higher today given the improvements in spotter programs. This has been an incredibly prolific year for tropical cyclone associated tornadoes in general. There haven't been that many (tropical cyclone tornadoes) in recent years, so maybe climatology is "catching up" this year.

Also, I found this link from NOAA that a record number of tornadoes for the month of August occurred, partially attributed to tropical cyclone tornadoes.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2304.htm

Glen

 

[Jason_Politte]

Didn't know whether to put this here or in the NOW/REPORTS thread for Frances...

I saw an interesting graphic on (gulp) TWC tonight... It seems that Frances has spawned more tornadoes in the U.S. than any other hurricane save one. So far, there have been 90-some tornadoes with Frances!

Are these actually verified tornadoes by the NWS or merely reports, which can easily be misconstrued make an event appear to be more than it actually was?

Jason Politte

 

[Shane Adams]

I was wondering that also.....be impossible to verify without either damage or visual confirmation and I highly doubt there's been much of the latter.

 

[Glen Romine]

I was wondering that also.....be impossible to verify without either damage or visual confirmation and I highly doubt there's been much of the latter.

Actually, these should verify quite well, as there are lots of trees - and trees are great damage indicators for tornadic winds. Also, as suggested, the 90 count is reports - some are almost certainly duplicated, but reading them many mention association with damage, so I'd expect quite a few to become official reports. I'll watch over the next few days for survey reports.

Glen