2014/04/02 by David M. Schultz, Yvette Richardson, Paul Markowski +1 · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Climate variability and models #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1175/bams-d-13-00252.1
openalex publication_date 2014/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Media reports that clashing air masses produce tornadoes mischaracterize the abundant new observational and modeling research on how tornadoes form. T he central United States is home to the most frequent violent tornadoes on Earth (Fig. 1). When major outbreaks of such tornadoes occur, the media often explains their occurrence as the result of the “clash of air masses. ” Consider the following example (from www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/08/oklahoma-tornadoes-ef5-moore/2401885/): Oklahoma provides a fertile breeding ground for torna-does because of the clash between the warm, moist air from the Gulf and cold air from the Rockies and Canada: One of the main keys to tornado formation... is “a large temperature spread over a short distance. ” “Water holds its heat more than land or air... So Oklahoma’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico means there is a source of very warm, moist air. As cold air comes from Canada, you can get temperatures of 80 degrees [F] in the body of the state while it is in the 20s in the Panhandle. ” [The interviewee] says this provide[s] the power to fuel severe thunderstorms. Other examples of media reporting that the clash of the air masses is responsible for tornadoes may be found online (e.g., www.independent.co.uk/news/tornado