2026-09-19T14:43:50Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/44134 2023-07-11 col_2142_14839 col_2142_5131 com_2142_14838 com_2142_13459 com_2142_8903 com_2142_5130

Wilhelmson, Robert B. Jewett, Brian F. Van Leer, Kevin 2013-05-24T21:51:48Z 2013-05-24T21:51:48Z 2013-05 2013-05-24T21:51:48Z 2013-05 The relationship between storm mergers and tornado formation can result in local conditions more favorable for rapid intensification of vertical vorticity at the surface than found in the surrounding environment. Following the work of Lemon (1976) and Lee et al. (2006), this study uses high-resolution WRF simulations to simulate and understand the significance of storm mergers in subsequent intensification of the parent rotating updraft (mesocyclone) and tornadic vortex in the 22 May 2011 Joplin, MO case. This case was noted for the rapid evolution of the storm from tornado formation (tornadogenesis) to peak intensity in relation to the merging of cells in the rear-flank region of the parent storm. In an effort to identify the importance of the mergers in the tornadogenesis process, casestudy WRF simulations are used to reproduce behavior observed in the event. An in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of the relationships between internal storm dynamical processes, such as precipitation loading and increased surface convergence, is performed. Three-dimensional visualization is utilized to identify spatial and temporal relationships between stormscale processes. Sensitivity tests, including the artificial removal or alteration of the merging cells in the model, modify the storm evolution and allow the quantification of the mergers’ effects. This study pursued a goal of identifying storm scale processes resulting from storm mergers that enhance, weaken or otherwise modulate tornado development in supercell storms. Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf (zulauf@illinois.edu) on 2013-04-23T12:51:19Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1) No. of bitstreams: 2 Van Leer_Kevin.docx: 49517578 bytes, checksum: 89ba688d2456267aa82ccb90f2c2a170 (MD5) Van Leer_Kevin.pdf: 32976017 bytes, checksum: 130706f38b0f4c46d44504aa0b4c6f7e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-24T21:51:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Kevin_Van Leer.pdf: 32976121 bytes, checksum: 68fb8a55b0d84936bfa8015581900176 (MD5) Van Leer_Kevin.docx: 49517601 bytes, checksum: d1c9b62d3273602f2f970fcde883fe4a (MD5) license.txt: 4064 bytes, checksum: ce938311dfa08946d6d199fff9e31922 (MD5) http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44134 en Copyright 2013 Kevin Van Leer Tornadoes Supercells Joplin Tornado Genesis Storm Mergers Severe Weather Storm mergers and their role in tornado genesis during the 2011 Joplin storm text Atmospheric Sciences 1253 Atmospheric Sciences 0334 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Thesis M.S. MS:Atmospheric Sciences -UIUC 10KS0334MS