Visualization techniques have revealed that some of the supercells that occurred on 2 June 1995 (VORTEX) featured a descending maximum in radar reflectivity to the rear of the weak echo region. In some cases, as these maxima approached the ground, near-ground vorticity increased rapidly and tornado formation ensued.

This paper will explore the relative frequency of this phenomenon among the numerous supercells that occurred on this day, how often tornado formation was associated with the descending maximum, and whether this phenomenon was more frequent in storms that interacted with a prominent mesoscale outflow boundary.

One case will be examined in somewhat more detail to show the distinct association between the reflectivity maximum and tornado formation.