Understanding Tornado Intensity in Supercells and Quasi-linear Convective Systems
Historically, a primary focus of severe weather research has been understanding how tornadoes form to discriminate tornadic and non-tornadic storms. Few studies, however, have examined the dynamics of tornado intensification. Trapp et al. (2017) found that updraft width is a primary discriminator of tornado intensity in supercell thunderstorms. Herein, the original theory of Trapp et al. (2017) relating mesocyclone width and tornado intensity is expanded upon. Further, using idealized simulations, updraft width and other potential controls of tornado intensity in quasi-linear convective systems (QLCSs) are explored. Additionally, the dynamical differences between tornado intensification in supercells and QLCSs is examined to determine why QLCS tornadoes tend to be weaker than their supercell counterparts. Extending these findings to observations of severe storms, the use of satellite data to approximate updraft size is also explored, such that overshooting top area (OTA) might be used to discriminate storms capable of producing strong tornadoes.
