Theodore Fujita Observations

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s the usage of the word “tornado” in forecasts was prohibited by the Weather Bureau because it was “felt that mention of the word tornado provoked undue fear amongst the public” (Corfidi, 2010). While the ban was lifted eventually lifted, little research progress had been made until 1948 when two US Air Force weather officers successfully predicted a tornado in Oklahoma (2010). The prediction of this event is what led to the establishment of the US Air Force’s Severe Weather Warning Center and developed into what we know today as the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Oklahoma (2010). Officially, 1948 was the beginning of tornado forecasting in the United States, and if we look at it from a prediction accuracy perspective it is still very much in its

In 1953, the Waco tornado was part of a tornado outbreak sequence with a series of at least 33 tornadoes occurring in 10 different U.S. between May 9-11, 1953. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a research meteorologist from Texas A&M University picked up an isolated comma-shaped echo on his radar screen about an hour before the tornado struck Waco, Texas. The researcher was unfamiliar with the severity of the echo. (Slattery, Patrick 1) This would soon be proven fatal; as a result of this a few minutes before the strike the screen displayed five echoes and the number one deadliest tornado in Texas since the 1900 began. Surprisingly, the morning of May 11, 1953 started out like any other day, residents recalled it to be warm and muggy as usual. There was a high temperature 80 degrees and a low temperature of 63 degrees. The dew point was 68 degrees Fahrenheit with an average wind speed of 8 miles per hour. (Weather Underground 1) The

There are many ancient myths surrounding thunder and lightning One example is the Native American belief of a giant bird called the thunder Bird that would create storms. There are some different variations of the thunderbird between the tribes but the depictions are usually similar. It is depicted as a large bird that is capable of creating storms and thunder while it is flying. The clouds are said to be pulled together by the beats of its wing while the thunder is the sounds of its wings clapping. The natives believed that the eyes of the thunderbird were so bright that when it blinked it created sheet lightning.

Forensic meteorology is a relatively new and booming derivative of the meteorology industry. Meteorology is essentially the scientific study of the state of the atmosphere, or current condition of the weather. Forensic meteorologist can perform the same exact tasks as a regular meteorologist is able to do, however they can apply their weather skills toward serving justice toward the innocent. Mostly made up of highly educated meteorologists, forensic meteorologist are considered experts in knowing when, how, and why certain weather events occur. They are skilled at reassembling past weather events that occurred at a distinct period of time and place. Frank Lombardo, a Forensic Meteorologist and president of WeatherWorks Inc, describes forensic meteorology as “A combination of science, art, and

Potential connections exist between total lightning and mesovortex formation, which is the parent circulation from which QLCS tornadoes are born. Many studies have found that mesovortexgenesis is initiated at low levels by tilting, in downdrafts, of crosswise baroclinic horizontal vorticity (Trapp and Weisman 2003 Part II, Wheatley and Trapp 2008, Atkins and St. Laurent 2009 Part II). Additional studies have found that strong low-level updraft is critical in converging and amplifying vertical vorticity associated with the mesovortex (Schenkman et al. 2012, Atkins and St. Laurent 2009). Trapp and Weisman (2003 Part I) also found that the amount of wind shear had large implications on mesovortexgenesis. As wind shear increased in both magnitude and

A severe thunderstorm coupled with high winds, swept across Metcalfe County Sunday afternoon, April 14 [1968] doing extensive damage to farm outbuildings and dwellings. At least seven barns were flattened by the gales, Insurance spokesmen estimate the damage as high as $100,000. The destructive winds hit first in the neighborhood of the Wisdom Presbyterian Church and

Dalton was born in Eaglesfield, England September 6, 1766 and died July 27, 1844 due to a stroke. Dalton and his brother Jonathan were both born color blind. Dalton’s family wasn’t big on the financial end and he really wanted an education. When he turned 12 he began teaching at the school he was formerly attending. At the age of 14 he began to help out with working on a farm but soon realized that it wasn’t for him and returned to teach at a Quaker school. Shortly after he returned to the school he was name the principal! He worked there as the school’s principal for many years until he was given the opportunity to become a math and philosophy tutor at the New College in Manchester. While working there he joined a group that gave him access to the laboratory facilities. His first research project was Dalton went after one of his favorite topics meteorology. The amazing thing about this is that Dalton kept daily logs of the weather, he kept up with specific things such as wind velocity and barometric pressure for 57 years. In fact his findings were published in his first book Meteorological Findings.

Predicting tornado activity can be one of the most challenging aspects of Meteorology. Tornados can form in less than 10 seconds, providing little to no warning of the potential devastating destruction they leave behind. With advancements in technology being more aware of the formation of tornados would appear to be a natural outcome. Research indicates, that the advancement in predicting tornados is closely related to understanding better why early predictions are challenging.

As mentioned earlier meteorologists over time have some advanced technology as well- such as the weather balloon, it has up to an hour of battery and it has it's own GPS tracker and it can handle the harsh winds and still document it. Isn't that amazing? Imagine being from

This was Fujita’s first study of a U.S. tornado. Most considered studying this tornado to be impossible. The closest weather station was at the airport miles away, the other tens of miles. The tornado itself was measured in hundreds of yards, finding the genesis of it seemed an unattainable goal. This did not stop Fujita. As Smith described it, “Fujita wasn’t an ordinary meteorologist. He had a creative perspective and a mind that viewed the world in four dimensions: the north/south dimension, the east/west dimension, the vertical dimension (altitude), and time” (118). Fujita devised a plan. The storm was slow moving and as such there were hundreds of photos and film footage of it. With the help of a local news agency Fujita managed to obtain 150 photographs of the tornado at different times and places. The difficulty of even finding these photos was immense as during this time finding tornado photographs was rare. From these photos he triangulated the location of the storm in each photo to create a chronological path of the storm that he could use to track the evolution of the tornado. At this day in age, this was something no other meteorologist could do, in fact what he did in this study was almost single-handedly create the art of meteorological photogrammetry. Using his work he was able to extrapolate a never before seen view of the evolution of a thunderstorm with a

Next, metallurgists were able to determine that one of the wings flexed upwards and broke apart due to extreme loading that was later determined to be caused by clear air turbulence. The meteorological conditions at the time of the departure for the area indicated: excellent visibility, but a strong pressure gradient was really churning up the winds. Anemometers at the airport, which was located in the vicinity of Mt Fuji recorded winds speeds between 60-70 Knots. These ingredients were the perfect recipe for mountain waves. Mountain waves occur when high speed air encounters a mountain. Some of the air goes up the mountain some of it goes around the mountain. This results in very turbulent conditions, these turbulent conditions are impossible to spot with the naked eye but when the air is moist, a very distinct cloud formation forms. The lenticular cloud is generally the dead give away that mountain waves are present. Satellite imagery recovered just before the crash indicated the presence of multiple lenticular clouds in the vicinity of the flight path of British Airways

Tao Okamoto, who is famously known as her screen name Tao, was born on May 22, 1985 in Chiba, Japan. She began her career in modeling when she was just a teenager. She decided to move to Paris in 2006 to take a high note on her career globally. She soon found her spot in Europe and has since then became a model for fashion houses as Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, and many

Three basic ingredients are required for a thunderstorm to form: moisture, rising unstable air (air that keeps rising when given a nudge), and a lifting mechanism to provide the “nudge”.

The first standardized hurricane naming system occurred in the nineteenth century, in the early days of hurricane tracking. Storms were identified based on their geographical locations using the latitudinal and longitudinal information. However, this system was confusing when there was more than one storm in the same ocean basin (WMO, 2014). Clement Wragge, a controversial Australian meteorologist, was the first to give a women’s name to tropical storms at the end of the 19th century (NHC, 2014). This colorful meteorologist at the head of the Australian weather office first named the storms after characters from the Greek mythology, but was later inspired by politicians he did not like (Norcross 2007). It is often thought that the inspiration

Thunderstorms are important events that occur in our ecosystem that bring both life and destruction necessary for the natural processes of life to keep evolving and moving toward their intended purpose. The purpose of this essay is to examine the reasons why thunderstorms form and dissipate in a regular fashion in the geographic region of the Eastern Rocky Mountains and northeastern New Mexico. The essay will first explain the basics about thunderstorms and then relate the unique geographical circumstances that gives the area in question its ability to manifest these thunderstorms at a much higher rate of frequency than other places located throughout the continental United Sates.