Observations of Low-Level Environments and Their Effects on Tornadoes Produced by Land-Falling Hurricanes

The purpose of this study is to find a correlation between tornadoes produced by land falling hurricanes and the variables, low-level vertical vorticity, low-level horizontal vorticity, and CAPE. Through the use of archived skew-T's and contoured upper/lower level maps we are able to compare the pre-existing environmental conditions of low-level vertical vorticity and low-level horizontal vorticity generated through vertical shear to the altered environment once the hurricane makes landfall. In addition, we are also going to look at the values of CAPE from the surface to 850 mb, as well as looking at the amount of CAPE in the deeper layer, extending from the surface to 500 mb. After calculating all of these values we will perform a statistical analysis on the data, with the intention of proving that there is a correlation between tornado production and one of these variables.