Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Mercer, Andrew E.

Committee Member

Brown, Michael E.

Committee Member

Fuhrmann, Christopher M.

Date of Degree

4-30-2021

Original embargo terms

Worldwide

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Professional Meteorology/Climatology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Tornado outbreaks (TO) occur every year across the continental United States and are a result of various synoptic scale, mesoscale, and climatological patterns. This study looks to find what patterns exist among the various scales and how that relates to the climatology of the TOs. In order to find these patterns, principal component analysis (PCA) and a cluster analysis were conducted to differentiate the patterns of data. Four distinct clusters of TOs were found with varying synoptic and mesoscale patterns as well as distinct climatological patterns. An interesting result from this study includes the shifting of TO characteristics over time to a more synoptically forced pattern that has becoming stronger and shifted eastward from the Great Plains.

Share

COinS