Tornado and Severe Hail Environments of Turkey

Proximity soundings derived from radiosonde data or global reanalyses are one of the main tools for investigating synoptic scale environments associated with severe convective storms and related hazardous phenomena. Results from distinct geographies suggest that although some of the variables representing particular ingredients of severe convection are accepted to be suitable for identifying a specific type of storm/event in most of the globe, it is well known that there are considerable regional differences in choice and threshold of parameters due to contrasting climatological and topographical characteristics. This study aims understanding synoptic scale environments of severe convective storms in Turkey using ERA-Interim data from 1979 to 2012 with six-hour intervals. Tornado, waterspout and severe hail database recently built from various sources is used as severe weather observations. In addition to these categories, an “other thunderstorms” class is defined, of which data are obtained from Turkish State Meteorological Service's climatological stations. Derived variables prior to tornado, waterspout and severe hail occurences are studied for determination of discriminatory parameters. Results are compared to similar studies performed for USA and European countries.