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Sounding‐derived parameters associated with tornadic storms in Catalonia
Author(s) -
Rodríguez Oriol,
Bech Joan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.5343
Subject(s) - tornado , supercell , mesocyclone , thunderstorm , environmental science , storm , climatology , meteorology , severe weather , population , depth sounding , atmospheric sciences , geology , geography , cartography , doppler effect , physics , demography , doppler radar , astronomy , sociology
Upper air conditions in waterspout and tornadic storms in Catalonia (NW Mediterranean) are analysed here from proximity soundings. The results indicate that weak tornadoes (EF0) and waterspouts present substantially lower values of wind shear and storm relative helicity than EF1+ tornadoes. Moreover, composite parameters such as the vorticity generation parameter and universal tornadic index are useful to distinguish between non‐tornadic thundery days and tornadic or waterspout days. New thresholds for the parameters studied are proposed.