Supercell Tornado• Tornado associated with a supercell and
mesocyclone.o Parent storm is persistent, organized, and has an associated
mesocyclone.
• Formation:o Not 100% understood.o Stretching and tilting of vorticityo Rear flank downdraft
• Identify:o Supercell features present
• FFD, flanking line, evidence of rotation in the storm
Non-Supercell Tornado (Landspout)
• By definition this is a tornado.o Not associated with a supercell or mesocyclone, however.
• Associated with a strong updraft.• Difficult to identify with radar
o Storm may be very small or essentially non-existent on radar.• Very little reflectivity
• Formation:o Boundary creates localized vorticity (spin) near the surface.o Strong updraft moves over this vorticity and quickly stretches it.
• Identify:o No supercell features.o Frequently a flat updraft base with a towering cumulus is all that is
visible.
Gustnado• Forms along outflow from thunderstorms
o Eddy along a gust front.o Leading edge of squall line or RFD gust front.
• Does not connect (reach) to the cloud base• Not a tornado• Short lived and ground based (little vertical extent)