Why do tropical systems cause tornadoes?
Tornadoes are an overlooked threat when it comes to tropical systems.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Tropical systems are known mainly for their flooding potential and damaging winds, but tornadoes are a tremendous threat once they landfall.
The National Weather Service in Shreveport, Louisiana, issued 67 tornado warnings after Hurricane Beryl’s landfall. That’s the most tornado warnings they’ve ever issued in a single severe weather event. So why was there so many tornadoes?
Whether it be a hurricane or a tropical storm, landfalling tropical systems can have tornadoes, especially on the right-hand side of the system. Once a tropical system makes landfall, the combination of friction from the earth and forward motion can increase the wind shear locally, forming tornadoes.
Even well inland, tropical systems can keep producing tornadoes as their remnants interact with cold fronts, warm fronts, and the jet stream.
Unlike the tornadoes that form from regular supercell thunderstorms, tropical tornadoes are often brief but can still be strong. It is often hard to give significant lead time with tropical tornadoes because by the time the radar detects them, they may have already touched down and lifted.
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