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.
Recommended Citation
Bowles, Justin Alan, "A climatology of tornado outbreak environments derived from unsupervised learning methods" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 5085.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/5085