In Situ and radar observations of low-level winds in tornadoes

A DOW radar, several tornado pods, and a manned tornado intercept vehicle (TIV) obtained data in two tornadoes during the spring of 2008. The core flow and near core flow regions of two tornadoes crossing in and near the towns of Stuttgart, AR and Glen Elder, KS were observed. During the VORTEX2 2009 field phase, 11 tornado pods, the TIV and 3 DOW radars collected data in the Goshen County, WY tornado on 5 June 2009. The core flow passed directly over the TIV and within 400 m of the rapid-scan DOW. Additionally, video documentation of real-time damage in tandem with wind measurements allowed for assessment of the wind/damage relationship. A comparison of low-level DOW winds and 1 and 3.5 m in situ winds obtained in the aforementioned tornadoes suggest that strong asymmetries may exist in the lowest levels of the tornado boundary layer with strong inflows in some zones and nearly tangential flow in others. Preliminary Rapid-Scan DOW observations and in situ observations of tornadoes obtained in the 2010 field phase of VORTEX2 also will be presented.