Examination of Tornadic Supercells in Tropical Cyclone Earl (1998) using Conventional and WSR-88D Data Suites

Recent tropical cyclones which produced tornadoes will be analyzed using a combination of surface, upper air, satellite and WSR-88D, to evaluate environmental vertical shear characteristics and mesocyclone character, and to test the empirical associations between midtropospheric drying and tornado occurrence. The primary emphasis will be on Hurricane Earl of 1998, a vortex with a tropical warm core but pronounced peripheral surface baroclinicity, which moved northeastward across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico to eastern North Carolina, then offshore over the Atlantic. Earl produced tornadoes in two distinct phases: first, over central Florida near a warm front extending east-southeastward from the northern part of the circulation, and second, in a cluster over the Carolinas during its exit phase. We will also present analyses of soundings and hodographs modified for conditions in vicinity of tornadic tropical cyclone supercells. These analyses will be examined and compared with published concepts of tornadic tropical cyclone characteristics.