Documentation of a Rare Tornadic Left-Moving Supercell
Matthew J. Bunkers, John W. Stoppkotte
Abstract
An F1 anticyclonic tornado (i.e., clockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere) was produced by an intense left-moving/anticyclonic supercell near Rushville, Nebraska, on 20 June 2006. This is only the fifth formally documented left-moving supercell that produced an anticyclonic tornado. The left-moving supercell exhibited an impressive hook echo, mesoanticyclone, and bounded weak-echo region at the time of tornado occurrence—rivaling those of its right-moving counterparts. Since tornadic left-moving supercells are extremely rare, and thus potentially difficult to recognize, this paper serves to document the radar characteristics and environmental conditions of this event.
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Citation:
Bunkers, M. J., and J. W. Stoppkotte, 2007: Documentation of a rare tornadic left-moving supercell. Electronic J. Severe Storms Meteor., 2 (2), 1-22.
Keywords:
tornadoes, supercells, radar observations, operational forecasting, storm environments, mesocyclones