Recent Developments in Our Understanding of Tornadic Storms

Results in the past decade from field campaigns (IHOP_2002 and VORTEX2), numerical models, and theoretical studies have increased our understanding of certain aspects of storm initiation, tornado genesis (and its failure), and tornado maintenance. In particular, we discuss the influence of small-scale vortices on the water vapor field and storm initiation, the presence of surges within supercell rear-flank downdrafts and their possible influence on tornado genesis and maintenance, the changes in outflow temperatures over the course of a storm's lifetime, the interactions between ongoing tornadoes and nearby vortices, and the outcomes of mergers between supercell storms. Each of these represents both a complication to our current conceptual models and an opportunity for future research and increased understanding of real-world forecasting problems.