What is MESO

[Tom Mull]

When I click on a storm cell in RadarOmega, it shows MESO. I am not quite sure what that is. I assume it has to do with the rotation of the storm cell, but I can't find a definition of it and RadarOmega does not provide a definition. Does any on know what it means and the significance of the numbers for MESO? Thanks.

 

[Warren Faidley]

It's short for "mesocyclone." There are a zillion references on the Internet, but it's basically an indication there is rotation in the storm.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Like Warren said it's short for mesocyclone and it's nothing but an algorithm that gets triggered with certain aspects of the storm. A higher number means more of a chance of a mesosyclone occuring.

 

[Randy Jennings]

I can't find a refence on how RadarOmega calculates meso strength, but I did find one for RadarScope:

From: What Do Those New Storm Attributes Mean? | by WeatherDecTech | Medium

"For storms displaying either a Meso or TVS, you will also notice a Meso Strength number which is also known as the Mesocyclone Strength Index (MSI). This is a non-dimensional number, so there are no associated units. The number is calculated in such a way that an area of the storm that is rotating in the low levels is not construed as weaker than a storm rotating at multiple levels. Storms with strong rotation closer to the surface are given more weight in this number.

When reading this number, note that an MSI of 0–2,300 is considered weak, 2,300–3,600 is moderate, and anything higher than 3,600 is strong. Seen in the associated image is an MSI of 7,059. A tornado did form from this storm and was rated EF-2.

The original idea for the algorithm to create Meso Strength can be found in an article published in 1998 by AMS. The authors; Mike Eilts, JT Johnson, DeWayne Mitchell, and Phillip Spencer from The National Severe Storms Laboratory Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm for the WSR-88D include those who eventually founded WDT as well as other who currently work here. While quite technical, it provides an interesting insight to how research is performed."

 

[Jeff Wright]

Not to be confused with a meso-low?

 

[Tom Mull]

Like Warren said it's short for mesocyclone and it's nothing but an algorithm that gets triggered with certain aspects of the storm. A higher number means more of a chance of a mesosyclone occuring.

Like Warren said it's short for mesocyclone and it's nothing but an algorithm that gets triggered with certain aspects of the storm. A higher number means more of a chance of a mesosyclone occuring.

Like Warren said it's short for mesocyclone and it's nothing but an algorithm that gets triggered with certain aspects of the storm. A higher number means more of a chance of a mesosyclone occuring.

When I click on a storm cell in RadarOmega, it shows MESO. I am not quite sure what that is. I assume it has to do with the rotation of the storm cell, but I can't find a definition of it and RadarOmega does not provide a definition. Does any on know what it means and the significance of the numbers for MESO? Thanks.

When I look at the MESO for storms, I see numbers less than 10. Is 10 the highest, or how high is a significant rotation?

 

[rdale]

As several have pointed out - nobody knows how RO comes up with that number apparently. You might contact RO.

 

[Randy Jennings]

After glancing through the paper (link posted above), RO might be using the older NSSL Early MDA (vs the newer MSI), but that is a guess. Like @rdale said, RO would have to clarify.