We are entering the time of year when severe thunderstorms become common around Michiana. That means lighting, thunder, heavy rains and of course strong winds. These storms can also produce, on some occasions, a tornado. Tornadoes are hard to predict. It’s hard to figure out how strong they are (that is usually determined after the fact by looking at the damage). I could go on, but the bottom line is, these things are tough.

Tornado in Manitoba, Canada- June 2007

Because of the complex nature of tornadoes, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are conducting one of the largest research projects to study them. It’s called VORTEX2. You may have seen something about it on The Weather Channel, CNN or Fox News. NOAA and the NSF are contributing some $10 million towards the project.

Over 100 researchers and crew will be spending the next month chasing after storms this year. They will repeat the process next year during the same time period. Those researchers will use over 40 science and transport vehicles to help them out. Some of these vehicles have mobile Doppler radars and other measurement devices to help study the storms. By having that much equipment, they plan to surround the storms and tornadoes to help getter better information on just what the storms are doing.

Their goal is to learn more about the structure of tornadoes and figure out how they work. They hope to learn more about why they form and why some are stronger and last longer than others.

Perhaps one of the most ambitious goals is to help improve warning time. According to those researchers, the current average lead time is 13 minutes. They’re hoping to see if it’s possible to increase those lead times to 30, 45 or 60 minutes before a tornado hits.

It’s really an interesting program and something you may want to check out and learn more about. Michiana may not be in ‘Tornado Alley’ but we get our share of these strong storms too. After all, in October 2007, an EF3 tornado damaged many areas in Nappanee. I have attached a link to the VORTEX2 website.

Nappanee tornado damage- October 2007

As always, feel free to leave comments and send your interesting weather pictures to my email address, kgarcia@fox28.com.

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