Beginning in 2015, NOAA has annually funded research focusing on the special meteorological challenges that accompany tornadoes and tornado genesis in the U.S. southeast. From the beginning, this initiative was built on the recognition that tornadoes in the southeast are often deadlier, not because there is something intrinsically different about tornadoes in this region, but, rather, because of the confluence of challenges regarding storm mode (i.e., QLCS) and timing (i.e., higher prevalence at night or during winter months) and social factors in the southeast (e.g., population density, housing stock, terrain features). In order to acknowledge the holistic nature of the challenge of protecting lives and property in the southeast in the face of tornado threats, NOAA has consistently encouraged and supported a wide range of social science research focusing on behavior, culture, knowledge, awareness, communication, risk perception, and vulnerabilities.

This session will bring together a range of presenters who have conducted social scientific research as part of the many years of VORTEX-SE research cycles in order to summarize their findings and begin to answer a number of questions, including: What are the critical social factors that make the U.S. southeast different from other parts of the country regarding severe weather? How have findings from this social scientific research been brought into conversation with operational or research-oriented meteorology? What can be learned from this research in the southeast that can be applied across the entire U.S. or even globally? What recommendations come out of this work to support NOAA’s mission to protect life and property? What are the next steps and next big questions/challenges we should be pursuing?

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