Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment

Operations Summary (VORTEX-1994)


Summary of the 1995 VORTEX Campaign

Executive Summary

VORTEX (1994) had a very successful season, despite the record tornado drought in Oklahoma. We intercepted three tornadic supercells. Unfortunately, the structure of two of these prevented data collection on the tornadoes themselves, and in the third storm, the road network prevented data collection.

We also intercepted and documented six non-tornadic supercells which will allow us to compare tornadic and non-tornadic storms. On four days, supercells were forecast, but non-supercellular convection occurred and was documented.

Needless to say, these VORTEX data sets are unprecedented in spatial and temporal detail, and will provide many new insights into the structure and evolution of tornadic and non-tornadic storms.

The NOAA P-3 collected several good data sets, including two on tornadic storms, and several on non-tornadic storms with mesocyclones. We are very pleased that we now have Doppler data documenting the evolution of storms and mesocyclones, instead of snapshot views.

Finally, on several of the "bust" days, we gathered data that should enable us to gain a much better understanding of storm (non-) initiation.

Erik Rasmussen, Principal Investigator