ATMS 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Mesoscale Convective System, Hook Echo, Vertical Draft

• School: University of Illinois
• Department: Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: ATMS 120
• Professor: Eric Snodgrass

Document Summary

The most violent tornadoes on earth form within the supercell thunderstorm. Other storm types, like the mesoscale convective system (mcs), can produce tornadoes but they are rarely as powerful as the tornadoes that emerge from the supercell. In this video, we will begin to investigate this storm and learn why it is so powerful. Major notes from this video lecture: supercells are the most intense t-storms on the planet. They can also produce large hail and very strong straight-line winds. They produce the majority of tornadoes and nearly all of the severe tornadoes (ef-3 and greater) There are three main parts to the supercell found on the northeaster part of the storm. This part is found on the southwest side of the storm from the updraft of the storm that the wall cloud and tornado will emerge. Atmospheric scientists have named the rotating updraft of a supercell the mesocyclone.