Intro + Basic Meteorology + Storm Mergers

Introduction

Welcome to my new blog. Periodically, I will be posting about weather events I find interesting.  I'll also be adding chaser-relevant bits I learn from science articles.  Hope you enjoy!

Basic Meteorology for Storm Chasers

I recorded a new version of the beginner's meteorology presentation I gave at NSCS.  In it, I cover:

• Surface maps
• Upper air maps
• Skew-T Log-p charts
• Hodographs

You can find it on Youtube here.

And if you find it useful, please like and subscribe!  I'll be posting more content like this soon.

Storm Mergers

Also, I've been reading quite a bit of research on storm mergers and their relationship to tornadogenesis.  It turns out that mergers matter -- a lot.

Did you know that 50% of tornadoes form within a few minutes of a merger?  This is not an accident. It turns that mergers are important because they increase stretching. 

(Y'all remember the ice skater analogy, right?  Spin and stretch!)

Also, it turns out that a lot of merging cells that lead to the formation of tornadoes impact the supercell on the west side.  A great example of this is the Rochelle, IL EF4 tornado of April 7, 2015.  As soon as the outflow from a storm to the west hit the Rochelle storm, it went haywire!

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