SESDA Staff Study Oklahoma Tornados

Tornado system air temperature map

SESDA3 team members working at the GES-DISC used data from missions archived at this center to produce initial quick looks at the formation of the super tornados that impacted the US State of Oklahoma.  The news on Monday, May 20, 2013 was dominated by pictures and videos of the massive EF-5 tornado that demolished a large part of the community of Moore, Oklahoma, causing
several tragic deaths and extensive damage.  This storm resulted from a relatively common springtime weather pattern, where hot air meets humid air and creates a perfect environment for the growth of supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes over the Great Plains states.
A low pressure system over Dakotas was the cause of the circulation pattern that created the conditions for the Oklahoma thunderstorms.  The far southern zone of the cyclonic circulation around the low pressure area extended south from Colorado and Kansas, pushing and converging extremely warm air at the surface over Texas. Infrared brightness temperatures (Tb) measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) in that region were in excess of 320 K (red). Warm, humid air flowing from the Gulf of Mexico provided the moisture source for the storms as these two air masses converged.

For more details on this item see:

http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gesNews/airs_observes_oklahoma_tornado_storm

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