I had the opportunity to meet with the Jackson Mississippi National Weather Service at the National Weather Association 2017 Annual Conference.
They were here presenting local research on severe weather. Here is a quick couple of snippets from our chat!
Here are a few snapshots from the presentation on the presentation about the inference of tornado strength from debris identification on radar.
This is really cool.
Standard disclaimer: All tornadoes are potentially deadly. All tornadoes need to be respected and treated as very dangerous.
But… This research means that when there is severe weather in the area with tornadoes, now we can look at the radar and give you our best-guess as to how strong the tornado is while it is happening.
Technically, we would still need to wait for the National Weather Service to officially confirm it, but it would help everyone know just how much of a threat a particular storm posed.
NERD ALERT: Say, for example, there is a identifiable couplet, a drop in CC and lowered reflectivity values all in the same spot on radar. But, in this example, the CC drop was only from 6,000 to 9,000 feet.
We could estimate that the area in question was producing an EF-0 or EF-1 tornado. We woudl tell you to get to your safe place. And you would be there, knowing that – at that point – there isn’t much of a threat that the storm will de-bark all of the trees and lift your house off of its foundation.
You could be in your safe place, knowing this was a tornado that is likely throwing around a lot of debris, could damage roofs, will knock down some trees, destroy fences and out-buildings, and sheds may be destroyed.
But so long as you are in that safe place, you’re likely going to be okay.
