The 2008 Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak: Synthetic dual Doppler analysis of contrasting tornadic storm types

During the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak on 5-6 February, a significant number of storms passed within about 40 km of WSR-88D radars. This distance, combined with the significant motion vector (from the southwest at 20-25 m s-1) of relatively steady storms, is amenable to a synthetic dual Doppler analysis during the times when the storms passed the WSR-88D locations. Nine storms will be analyzed using the SDD technique. The following table provides their general characteristics and nearest approach to the 88D radars. For this data set, storm structure ranges from isolated supercell to QLCS.

Each storm will be analyzed for a 40-60 min period during passage by the WSR-88D radar to determine general storm properties. Analysis of high-resolution single Doppler data around the time of passage (±30 min), combined with 1-2 SDD analyses, will be used to examine the kinematic structure of low-level circulations (e.g., mesocyclone, downdraft) and the relation to the parent storm. This analysis may provide insights on the fundamental differences between cyclonic circulations in supercell storms and those within QLCS's.

Radar Time

(UTC) Type Az/Range Coverage Comments

NQA 2245 supercell 130/10-30 mesocylone Organizing supercell

NQA 2345 supercell 130/20-50 Storm-scale EF-2 tornado during the time of passage

HPX 0100 supercell 310/40 storm EF-2 tornado near the time of passage

OHX 0345 supercell 130/10 mesocyclone EF-3 tornado 15 min after

OHX 0700 Supercell 310/30 storm EF-1 tornado just after

LOU 0450 QLCS 310/20 Storm/meso Near time of EF-2 tornado

LOU 0540 QLCS/bow 140/20-40 Storm/meso EF-1 tornado during

OHX 0740 Supercell 310/30 storm EF-1 tornado during

GWX 0800 supercell 130/10 mesocyclone EF-1 tornado 30 min after