NSSL Case Study - 12 December 1996
Central California
A mini-supercell formed in the late afternoon and tracked across Stanislaus
County some 70 miles SSE of Sacramento. The storm produced an F1
tornado very near the town of Oakdale. This is another of the many
cases from around the country which NSSL is using to test its Mesocyclone
Detection Algorithm (MDA).
Presented here are various WSR-88D radar images from the Sacramento,
CA radar(KDAX).
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OAKDALE TORNADO(time sequences):
Description: The tornado occured about halfway through the
Storm Lifetime Loop at the point where
there was clearly one dominant upddraft(When viewing the loop, storm
motion is to the northeast). There had initially been two competing
updrafts. When the updraft to the east became dominant
it also moved into an area of slightly more unstable air, thus the storm
grew taller. It then proceeded
within minutes to produce the Oakdale tornado. The tornado was on
the ground for about five minutes and resulted in minor damage outside
of the town.
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OAKDALE TORNADO(in progress):
Description:
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