Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report
Tornadoes pose a risk of catastrophic economic loss and casualty in the United States. Modification of land use by urbanization alters the meteorological conditions that may impact tornado formation and intensification processes. Here we explored the simulated impact of Kansas City urbanization on t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-04-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1148506/full |
| _version_ | 1827965331575930880 |
|---|---|
| author | Jiwen Fan Jingyu Wang Jingyu Wang Yun Lin Yun Lin |
| author_facet | Jiwen Fan Jingyu Wang Jingyu Wang Yun Lin Yun Lin |
| author_sort | Jiwen Fan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tornadoes pose a risk of catastrophic economic loss and casualty in the United States. Modification of land use by urbanization alters the meteorological conditions that may impact tornado formation and intensification processes. Here we explored the simulated impact of Kansas City urbanization on the tornado potential of a supercell storm. In this studied case, we found that urbanization might enhance tornado potential by a) strengthening the low-level streamwise vorticity in the storm inflow region, thus forming stronger rotating updrafts; and b) intensifying near-surface horizontal vorticity near the boundary of the forward-flank cold pool which increases the ingestion, tilting, and stretching of streamwise horizontal vorticity into vertical vorticity. The former results from the stronger east-to-west pressure perturbation gradient due to the faster, stronger outflow boundary, and the latter is mainly a result of stronger cold fronts and a better alignment of storm-relative inflow with the horizontal vorticity vector. We emphasize that our conclusions only represent one possibility of how urbanization would affect tornado potential, and a more systematic examination is needed to achieve a more general conclusion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:31:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ed79a9118d5439380726cc984843320 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:31:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ed79a9118d5439380726cc9848433202023-04-18T04:28:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632023-04-011110.3389/feart.2023.11485061148506Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case reportJiwen Fan0Jingyu Wang1Jingyu Wang2Yun Lin3Yun Lin4Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Richland, WA, United StatesPacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Richland, WA, United StatesNational Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporePacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Richland, WA, United StatesJoint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesTornadoes pose a risk of catastrophic economic loss and casualty in the United States. Modification of land use by urbanization alters the meteorological conditions that may impact tornado formation and intensification processes. Here we explored the simulated impact of Kansas City urbanization on the tornado potential of a supercell storm. In this studied case, we found that urbanization might enhance tornado potential by a) strengthening the low-level streamwise vorticity in the storm inflow region, thus forming stronger rotating updrafts; and b) intensifying near-surface horizontal vorticity near the boundary of the forward-flank cold pool which increases the ingestion, tilting, and stretching of streamwise horizontal vorticity into vertical vorticity. The former results from the stronger east-to-west pressure perturbation gradient due to the faster, stronger outflow boundary, and the latter is mainly a result of stronger cold fronts and a better alignment of storm-relative inflow with the horizontal vorticity vector. We emphasize that our conclusions only represent one possibility of how urbanization would affect tornado potential, and a more systematic examination is needed to achieve a more general conclusion.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1148506/fullurbanizationsupercelltornado potentialWRF simulationtornadogenesis |
| spellingShingle | Jiwen Fan Jingyu Wang Jingyu Wang Yun Lin Yun Lin Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report Frontiers in Earth Science urbanization supercell tornado potential WRF simulation tornadogenesis |
| title | Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report |
| title_full | Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report |
| title_fullStr | Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report |
| title_short | Urbanization may enhance tornado potential: A single case report |
| title_sort | urbanization may enhance tornado potential a single case report |
| topic | urbanization supercell tornado potential WRF simulation tornadogenesis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1148506/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jiwenfan urbanizationmayenhancetornadopotentialasinglecasereport AT jingyuwang urbanizationmayenhancetornadopotentialasinglecasereport AT jingyuwang urbanizationmayenhancetornadopotentialasinglecasereport AT yunlin urbanizationmayenhancetornadopotentialasinglecasereport AT yunlin urbanizationmayenhancetornadopotentialasinglecasereport |