Comparing the Tornado Environments Among East Coast and Gulf Coast Landfalling Tropical Cyclones

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Toadvine, M. (2022). Comparing the Tornado Environments Among East Coast and Gulf Coast Landfalling Tropical Cyclones. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Tornadoes spawned by the landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) pose a non-trivial threat tolife and property. Previous research efforts have developed TC-tornado climatologies and have noted differences between East coast and Gulf coast landfalls, but a direct climatological comparison between the two affected coastlines has yet to be studied. Moreover, better understanding of significant differences in the mesoscale environments during TC landfalls could improve tornado forecasting techniques. Therefore, this project evaluated similarities and differences between East coast and Gulf coast TC tornadoes with a focus on: (1) the regional TC tornado climatology; and (2) the local environments of TC tornadoes utilizing RUC-RAP 20-km model analysis soundings. The climatological analysis covered a 70-year period (1950-2019), while the environmental analysis covered a 15-year period (2005-2019). The climatological analysis identified significant differences between East and Gulf coast TCs regarding tornado frequency, seasonality, and spatial distribution. Multiple sounding-based environmental metrics were also identified as being both significantly different between the two coasts and potentially pragmatic for forecasting purposes. In general, among these metrics, the East coast environment exhibited greater low-level moisture and instability, while the Gulf coast environment exhibited greater low-level vertical shear and helicity. An analysis of the synoptic environment identified several patterns that likely contributed to TC tornado development, including close proximity to an upper-level jet, the presence of mid-level dry air intrusions, and the presence of baroclinic boundaries within the onshore front-right quadrant.

Details
Author

Toadvine, Matthew

Title

Comparing the Tornado Environments Among East Coast and Gulf Coast Landfalling Tropical Cyclones

Physical Description

1 online resource (228 pages) : PDF

Date

2022

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Tornadoes spawned by the landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) pose a non-trivial threat tolife and property. Previous research efforts have developed TC-tornado climatologies and have noted differences between East coast and Gulf coast landfalls, but a direct climatological comparison between the two affected coastlines has yet to be studied. Moreover, better understanding of significant differences in the mesoscale environments during TC landfalls could improve tornado forecasting techniques. Therefore, this project evaluated similarities and differences between East coast and Gulf coast TC tornadoes with a focus on: (1) the regional TC tornado climatology; and (2) the local environments of TC tornadoes utilizing RUC-RAP 20-km model analysis soundings. The climatological analysis covered a 70-year period (1950-2019), while the environmental analysis covered a 15-year period (2005-2019). The climatological analysis identified significant differences between East and Gulf coast TCs regarding tornado frequency, seasonality, and spatial distribution. Multiple sounding-based environmental metrics were also identified as being both significantly different between the two coasts and potentially pragmatic for forecasting purposes. In general, among these metrics, the East coast environment exhibited greater low-level moisture and instability, while the Gulf coast environment exhibited greater low-level vertical shear and helicity. An analysis of the synoptic environment identified several patterns that likely contributed to TC tornado development, including close proximity to an upper-level jet, the presence of mid-level dry air intrusions, and the presence of baroclinic boundaries within the onshore front-right quadrant.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Meteorology

Degree

M.S.

Keywords

Climatology
Cyclone
Landfall
Mesoscale
Tornado
Tropical

Subject Area

Earth Sciences

Advisor(s)

Eastin, Matthew

Committee Members

Davenport, Casey
Shirley, Terry

Degree Note

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2022.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Toadvine_uncc_0694N_13108

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2801