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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Climatology Of Tornadoes In Kansas, John P. Wasinger, Todd Moore Apr 2024

Climatology Of Tornadoes In Kansas, John P. Wasinger, Todd Moore

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Recent studies report changes to the climatology of tornadoes in the United States (US). Changes with the most supporting evidence include an increase in the intra- and inter-annual variability, increased concentration of tornadoes in bigger outbreaks, and a geographic shift of the densest tornado activity away from Tornado Alley in the Great Plains and toward the Great Lakes and Southeast regions of the US. Broad, national-level changes are valuable, but they can mask changes occurring at the state and sub-state levels where mitigation efforts are most effective. Kansas is of interest due to its reputation as a hotbed of tornado …


Tennessee Tornado Frequency, Vulnerability, And Relation To A Large-Scale Climate Variability, Vincent Marshall Brown May 2016

Tennessee Tornado Frequency, Vulnerability, And Relation To A Large-Scale Climate Variability, Vincent Marshall Brown

Masters Theses

This work explores the climatologies of isolated tornadoes and tornado outbreaks across the state of Tennessee, a state that in some years experiences more tornadoes than states in the heart of Tornado Alley. Part one assesses tornado frequency characteristics and fatality statistics within 100 km of three major Tennessee cities (Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville) between 1950 and 2013. Nashville reported the most tornadoes, (426) but Memphis reported the most fatalities. Knoxville and Nashville tornadoes occurred on fewer days, while Memphis tornadoes were spread across more tornado days. Spring was the most active season for tornadoes, but Memphis still experienced approximately …


The Relationship Between Elevation Roughness And Tornado Activity: A Spatial Statistical Model Fit To Data From The Central Great Plains, James B. Elsner, Tyler Fricker, Holly M. Widen, Carla M. Castillo, John Humphreys, Jihoon Jung, Shoumik Rahman, Amanda Richard, Thomas H. Jagger, Tachanat Bhatrasataponkul, Christian Gredzens, Paul Grady Dixon Ph.D. Jan 2016

The Relationship Between Elevation Roughness And Tornado Activity: A Spatial Statistical Model Fit To Data From The Central Great Plains, James B. Elsner, Tyler Fricker, Holly M. Widen, Carla M. Castillo, John Humphreys, Jihoon Jung, Shoumik Rahman, Amanda Richard, Thomas H. Jagger, Tachanat Bhatrasataponkul, Christian Gredzens, Paul Grady Dixon Ph.D.

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The statistical relationship between elevation roughness and tornado activity is quantified using a spatial model that controls for the effect of population on the availability of reports. Across a large portion of the central Great Plains the model shows that areas with uniform elevation tend to have more tornadoes on average than areas with variable elevation. The effect amounts to a 2.3% [(1.6%, 3.0%) = 95% credible interval] increase in the rate of a tornado occurrence per meter of decrease in elevation roughness, defined as the highest minus the lowest elevation locally. The effect remains unchanged if the model is …


Tornadoes: Are They Becoming More Frequent And Severe?, Matthew E. Westburg Jan 2014

Tornadoes: Are They Becoming More Frequent And Severe?, Matthew E. Westburg

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

Inconsistent record keeping, changes with tornado reporting systems such as the Fujita Scale and Doppler radar, increased public awareness, the use of technology to report tornadoes, and the shifting populations have all played a role in increasing the number of reported tornadoes in Illinois and in the United States. The role that global warming has played in the increased number of tornadoes and their severity since 1950, is still unclear. Several more years of tornado data collecting is needed for us to have a more definitive answer as to whether tornadoes are increasing in frequency and severity and the role …


A Comparison Between The Direction Of Tornado Movement And The Associated 500 Mb. Level Wind Direction, Allen B. Johnson Jan 1964

A Comparison Between The Direction Of Tornado Movement And The Associated 500 Mb. Level Wind Direction, Allen B. Johnson

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

An investigation to ( 1) determine the 500-milli-bar level weather patterns associated with tornadoes moving from northwest toward southeast and from southwest toward northeast and, (2) show the significance of the contrasts between the 500-mb. level weather patterns of the two tornado types. A very high relationship between the direction of the 500-mb. level winds and the tornado direction was substantiated by a coefficient of correlation of +0.88. The typical 500-mb. level low center associated with the northwest to southeast type tornado was located over Hudson Bay about 1300 miles north-northeast of the tornado area. The low center associated with …