Dear Tom,
Can we get a strong (F3 or greater) tornado in a line of thunderstorms, or do the stronger tornadoes occur in more isolated supercell thunderstorms?
Mary King, Lisle
Dear Mary,
Meteorologist Brian Smith, a Chicago native who worked with renowned University of Chicago tornado researcher Dr. Theodore Fujita, tells us, “Most of the really big tornadoes do come out of discrete supercell storms. These discrete cells capture much of the energy and shear that is needed to produce a violent tornado,” whereas thunderstorms in lines must compete with each other for that energy.
However, Smith says, “F3 or greater tornadoes do occur in thunderstorm lines, but not often. The exception is a “tail-end Charlie” thunderstorm, the southern-most storm in a squall line.” Such storms have better access to air whose energy has not yet been exploited.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
