I’d say wedge. But I clearly see the “stovepipe†you’re talking about. Without video there’s really no way to tell if the stovepipe thingy is the main tornadic circulation or just a transient vortex in a larger multi-vortex wedge. But heck, “wedge†and “stovepipe†are not technical definitions. A tornado can take many shapes, and we have words for only a few of them, and the terms we have are only approximations. Tornadic events don’t always fit into preconceived categories. They’re transitory and ephemeral beasts, shifting from one shape to the next faster than we can classify them. I agree it’s a bit silly to obsess over this kind of thing.
It’s all subjective anyway, and what looks like a wedge from one viewpoint might appear as a stovepipe from another. Consider a classic black wedge, much wider than it is tall, fitting the “wedge†label to perfection... Suddenly the meso begins to occlude, dryer air wraps around, and the cloud base quickly erodes so that the same tornado is now much higher than it is wide (but still the same width!) Our perception does a double take, and what appeared to be a classic wedge is now revealed to be a very large stovepipe. I have seen this happen on video many times. The tornado itself doesn’t really change shape, but it’s surroundings (and our perceptions) do. The visibilty, the amount of debris, the position of wrapping rain curtains, the height of the cloud base, all these rapidly changing things affect the perceived shape of the tornado. Arguing about a tornado’s true shape seems kinda pointless to me - although it’s true I’m enjoying this discussion, so maybe it isn’t. :wink:
I have to say that many tornados (and sometimes the storms they spawn from) seem to me to have a unique “character†about them that’s maintained throughout their lifecycle. The tornado (or storm) may change its shape (or mode), but somehow you can always tell it’s still the same event. Think of how many of us can immediately identify certain storms from a picture, regardless of when and where in the storm’s evolution the photo was taken. There is just an inherent uniqueness to some tornados that trumps all variations in physical appearance. They go from tube to stovepipe to wedge to rope, but the “character†remains the same. Do you know what I’m talking about? I can’t really explain it any better... I don’t know, perhaps I’m anthropomorphizing (is that a word?) when I shouldn’t be. But for me the character of a storm is more important thing than whether or not it conforms to a category like wedge or stovepipe. On the other hand, concrete verifiable terms like “mile-wide†are obviously useful... I dunno, interesting topic.
I doubt if there ever will be any definitive rules for what’s a wedge and what isn’t. These terms are all basically chaser slang. If enough people say it’s a wedge, then I guess it’s a wedge. Or... “I may not be able to define ‘Stovepipe’, but I know one when I see one!â€
