Which parts of a hurricane/tropical storm/depression tend to generate more tornadoes?
Jan 04, 2010
in
Tornado Questions
I think that the heavier rain bands stay to the south of the eye, and the more thunderstorm-like cells stay to the north and east, but I don’t know if that’s right.
Thanks!
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3 comments
Water on January 4, 2010 at 2:13 am
The correct answer is that it is dependent on the motion of the storm.
It most often is the right – front quadrant of the storm where the most energy is located since the speed of the storm movement is added to the other forces.
In the case of a due west moving storm it would be the northwest quadrant. In the case of a northeast moving system, it would be the northeast through the southeast quadrant.
The problem is, even through this is the area
where the area where tornadoes more often form, tornadoes can form in any of the quadrants. When dealing with tropical systems/hurricanes there is no part of the system that can be called "safe".
sassygirlu on January 4, 2010 at 2:13 am
well if your in the eye no rain and slight winds if your any where else in it it could cause a few tornados possibly
yankeesmann1918 on January 4, 2010 at 2:13 am
The strongest part of the hurricane outside of the eye wall is the Norhteast quadrant of the storm. That is the part of the storm that will produce the most tornados because as the storm rotates, a lot of the energy gets focused into the northeast quadrant, and that is why the heaviest rains and the strongest thunderstorms are in that part outside of the eye wall.