Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Predicting Thunderstorm Supercells 
Name: April
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Is there anyway to tell if a thunderstorm has a better chance of producing a supercell tornado compared to a normal smaller one?

Replies:
The short answer is, NO. However, I realize that is not very satisfactory. The larger question is, "What are the atmospheric dynamics that produce "extreme weather", of which tornados are the most common example.

The mechanism of tornado formation, and their propagation is only beginning to be understood, and there is a long way to go. The term you used "supercell" suggests to me that you have already done some research into tornados. There are a number of books on the subject (you can search Amazon.com or other on-line vendor). One that I just finished, "Extreme Weather" by Christopher C. Burt, is interesting reading. This is not an endorsement, there are no doubt other good selections.

Vince Calder

Click here to return to the Weather Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory