Introduction

The theme of this e-Portfolio is Supercell Tornadogenesis.   Click here for the AMS definition of a tornado. I chose the Tornado Outbreak of April 6-8, 2006 for my third Meteorology 361 assignment.  The textbook evolution of the tornado outbreak caught my meteorological interest.  On  April 7, 2006 a Tornado Watch was issued for portions of Western Tennessee indicating conditions were favorable for tornadoes to develop.

Above you can see a picture of a tornado, (top center) courtesy of the NWS.  Also note the damage photos and the hook echo (upper left radar image) that can indicate favorable conditions for tornadoes.  A hook echo often is associated with a mesocyclone and shows precipitation wrapping around the severe thunderstorm.  Eleven tornadoes touched down in Tennessee on April 7, 2006 killing twelve people, and destroying property with over 1.5 billion dollars of damage.  The severe weather event spanned 72 hours and especially hard hit was the town of Gallatin to the northeast of Nashville, Tennessee.  The Storm Prediction Center issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation along with the Tornado Watch at 10:20 a.m. on April 7, 2006.

Meteorologists communicate the dangers of severe weather and when people receive advanced warning of catastrophic weather they can take safety measures to increase their odds of survival.  Being able to spot, and analyze the synoptic and mesoscale meteorological parameters that can lead to severe weather is one of the purposes of this e-Portfolio. 

After examining and understanding the big picture (synoptic meteorology), I will discuss the mesoscale meteorology in-place at the time.  Towards the end of the paper I will go deeper with a discussion of the Mean Layer Convective Available Potential Energy, Convective Inhibition, Wind Shear, Helicity, and the Rasmussen Technique for the movement and speed of tornadoes.  Each of these areas shall be visualized and discussed on next pages of this e-Portfolio.