Hot
Items 2007 Enhanced-Fujita Scale gets its first test in Florida
The recent devastating killer tornadoes that crossed Florida during the early morning hours of Friday, February 2, 2007 were the first to be ranked by the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale, launched only a day before. The new system will provide more accurate and consistent tornado classifications, which are used by NSSL to statistically model tornado intensity distributions and determine tornado climatology.
These statistics can point out problems such as the high number of tornado fatalities that occur in mobile homes. While it is too early to tell how many people died inside their mobile homes in Florida last week, we know several mobile home parks were in the path of Friday’s storm, and they were devastated.
NSSL scientist Harold Brooks says over half of tornado fatalities in the United States now occur in mobile homes, even though the structures only account for about seven percent of dwellings. Brooks used information from the U.S. Census Bureau on the fraction of mobile homes in each state, combined with the number of reported tornadoes since 1985 to come up with these numbers. Several national media outlets interviewed Brooks about the recent mobile home destruction in Florida.
Brooks, like other scientists, also uses tornado classifications to develop tornado climatologies—where and when tornadoes are most likely to form, and how intense they might be. Some forecasters are already using this information.
Recently, Brooks has been able to expand his research to estimate the global distribution of severe storms and tornadoes. He hopes it is the beginning of a process to look at possible climate change effects on severe thunderstorms, occurrence and distribution.
Significance: Accurate and consistent tornado classifications are important to NSSL scientists who use them to statistically model tornado intensity distributions and determine tornado climatology. Understanding where and when tornadoes are likely to form, and their estimated intensity, will lead to better forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather.
2/5/07