Investigation of Vegetation Discontinuities and the Enhancement of Convection Related to the April 27 2011 Multiple Ef4 and Ef5 Tornado Scars

Author

Barrett Frank Gutter

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Brown, Michael E.

Committee Member

Mercer, Andrew E.

Committee Member

Dixon, P. Grady

Date of Degree

5-11-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

During the April 25 – 28, 2011 severe weather outbreak, 350 tornadoes were confirmed across 21 states, making the event the largest 3-day outbreak in U.S. History. Of the 350 tornadoes, 13 were of EF4 or EF5 strength. Due to complex terrain and vegetation in northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and eastern Tennessee, only four tornadoes were analyzed in this study. Abrupt changes in vegetation and the related sensible and latent heat fluxes have been shown to enhance convective activity along and near the resulting land surface discontinuities. This study analyzed heightened convective activity (analyzed by looking at cloud-to-ground lightning data) along each tornado track on days of weak synoptic forcing. Post- tornado months showed no signs of enhanced convective activity along any of the tornado tracks analyzed in this study, which could be attributed to several factors including study period, duration of intensity, tornado track length and width, and land cover.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17757

Comments

tornado||vegetation||convection

Recommended Citation

Gutter, Barrett Frank, "Investigation of Vegetation Discontinuities and the Enhancement of Convection Related to the April 27 2011 Multiple Ef4 and Ef5 Tornado Scars" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 2863.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/2863