Documentation of severe thunderstorm episodes across the U.S. had been historically preserved by forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center in the form of NOAA Technical Memoranda from 1985-1993. These publications were intended to provide basic climatological information and training material for pattern recognition associated with severe thunderstorm events to interested severe storm forecasters. As the quality of observational and model data sets improved and archival of data became more prevalent among operational forecast offices and the research community, these publications evolved into a working reference for case study training (used to demonstrate new scientific techniques/operational applications) and for applied research studies by SPC forecasters and research scientists during the 1990s. In an attempt to revitalize this early work and take advantage of new and emerging workstation and internet based technology, scientists at NSSL and the SPC have created a web based severe thunderstorm event web page to assist in future training and applied research studies. The severe thunderstorm events web page can be found at www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/events/ .

This web page contains a historical review of selected severe thunderstorm episodes (meeting specified criteria) from January 2000 to present. Advancing technology makes a detailed presentation of the events possible while keeping some of the more labor intensive chores of the past to a minimum. A listing of all severe reports, composite charts of selected synoptic and mesoscale parameters associated with the severe thunderstorm events, regional surface and 500hPa analyses and infrared satellite imagery are provided as was done historically, but now in electronic format. In addition, new information including objective analyses of more constant pressure levels, computed diagnostic fields, Skew-Ts, surface data, regional composite radar imagery, and review of all SPC products is presented. A brief narrative describes some elements of each event's synoptic environment.

The events presented on the web page are not intended to be a set of case studies. The more detailed analysis and evaluation required for case studies is left to the individual. This resource provides forecasters and researchers an opportunity to peruse severe thunderstorm episodes, examine the synoptic and mesoscale environments associated with them, and determine which events might be candidates for further use in training or research programs. The SPC also maintains an on-line archive of other hazardous weather events (including heavy rain, winter weather, and other phenomena) to increase the visibility of these cases for future applied study and training purposes.