Miriam Lawrence
EF1
Over in Chase Reports, in the Florida tornado thread, Mark Farnik posted the following as part of a longer post:
Is this in fact true? And if so, what is the exact meteorological explanation? I've heard it more than once, from at least semi-reliable sources. For example, this comes from the Florida Division of Emergency Management page on tornadoes (http://www.floridadisaster.org/hwa03/tornado.htm), emphasis mine:
I'm typically a lurker here, most definitely NOT a meteorological expert, so I'm sure this is an overly simplistic or just plain wrong explanation, but the only thing I can think of is that because Florida is so narrow, humid, and tropical, that air doesn't cool as much at night as it does elsewhere, and therefore the night air is more capable of fueling strong tornadoes. Is this correct?
I take some small comfort in the fact the tornado missed Orlando this time. Sooner or later, though, the Orlando metro will get hit by a significant tornado; the city lies right smack dab in the middle of a mini tornado alley prone to violent, nighttime tornado outbreaks. It's not a matter of if, just a matter of when...
Is this in fact true? And if so, what is the exact meteorological explanation? I've heard it more than once, from at least semi-reliable sources. For example, this comes from the Florida Division of Emergency Management page on tornadoes (http://www.floridadisaster.org/hwa03/tornado.htm), emphasis mine:
Over most of the nation large killer tornadoes tend to occur in the late afternoon and early evening hours. This is due to the afternoon buildup of heat in the lower atmosphere that lingers into the early nighttime hours. Florida is different. Tornado climatology shows us that strong to violent tornadoes are just as likely to occur after midnight as they are in the afternoon. This unique feature makes these tornadoes more dangerous, because most people are asleep after midnight and do not receive warnings relayed by commercial radio or television.
Is this premise true? Are there really more strong tornadoes at night in Florida than elsewhere in the country? And if so, why?I'm typically a lurker here, most definitely NOT a meteorological expert, so I'm sure this is an overly simplistic or just plain wrong explanation, but the only thing I can think of is that because Florida is so narrow, humid, and tropical, that air doesn't cool as much at night as it does elsewhere, and therefore the night air is more capable of fueling strong tornadoes. Is this correct?