A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms, supercells are the overall least common and have the potential to be the most severe. Supercells are often isolated from other thunderstorms, and can dominate the local weather up to 32 kilometres (20 mi) away. They tend to last 2–4 hours.
Storm chasing is broadly defined as the deliberate pursuit of any severe weather phenomenon, regardless of motive, but most commonly for curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for news or media coverage. A person who chases storms is known as a storm chaser or simply a chaser.
The Lemon technique is a method used by meteorologists using weather radar to determine the relative strength of thunderstorm cells in a vertically sheared environment. It is named for Leslie R. Lemon, the co-creator of the current conceptual model of a supercell. The Lemon technique is largely a continuation of work by Keith A. Browning, who first identified and named the supercell.
A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least two rotational locations or at least two supercells producing multiple tornadoes.
Joseph G. Galway, was an American meteorologist pioneering in the fields of severe convective storm forecasting and research. He was one of the first forecasters for the Severe Local Storms Unit and the National Severe Storms Forecast Center, and developed widely used synoptic predictors associated with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, such as the jet streak and lifted index.
Ronald William Przybylinski was an American meteorologist who made important contributions to understanding of bow echoes, mesovortices, related quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) structures and processes, as well as QLCS related tornadoes. He also was an expert on technical aspects of weather radar and applications to both operational meteorology and research.
Convective storm detection is the meteorological observation, and short-term prediction, of deep moist convection (DMC). DMC describes atmospheric conditions producing single or clusters of large vertical extension clouds ranging from cumulus congestus to cumulonimbus, the latter producing thunderstorms associated with lightning and thunder. Those two types of clouds can produce severe weather at the surface and aloft.
Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities.
The Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) is a national non-profit organization founded in 1993 by storm chaser and TESSA chairman Martin Lisius. The organization’s mission is to bring together both professional meteorologists and weather enthusiasts in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge. Its scope is national but focuses on Texas.
David K. Hoadley is an American pioneer of storm chasing and the first widely recognized storm chaser, as well as the founder and former editor of Storm Track magazine. He is also a sketch artist and photographer.
Jonathan M. "Jon" Davies is an American meteorologist, storm chaser, and author. An operational meteorologist, Davies is a weather forecaster and is known for his mesoscale meteorology research related to tornadoes and convective storms. He is a major discoverer of the minisupercell thunderstorm now often referred to as a low-topped supercell, pioneered significant research on tornado environments including on cold-core situations and the importance of low-level buoyancy in some deceptively low-CAPE tornado situations, and produced important case studies.
The European Storm Forecast Experiment, known as ESTOFEX, is an initiative of a team of European meteorologists, and students in meteorology founded in 2002. It serves as a platform for exchange of knowledge about forecasting severe convective storms in Europe and elsewhere. It is a voluntary organisation and is currently unfunded. It aims to raise awareness and provide real-time education about severe weather forecasting. ESTOFEX issues storm warnings on a daily basis. It also collects reports from the general public about severe convective weather incidents in order to validate its forecasts. Reports should be submitted to the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD).
Erik Nels Rasmussen is an American meteorologist and leading expert on mesoscale meteorology, severe convective storms, forecasting of storms, and tornadogenesis. He was the field coordinator of the first of the VORTEX projects in 1994-1995 and a lead principal investigator for VORTEX2 from 2009-2010 and VORTEX-SE from 2016-2017, as well as involved in other smaller VORTEX offshoots and many field projects.
Leslie R. Lemon was an American meteorologist bridging research and forecasting with expertise in weather radar, particularly regarding severe convective storms. Lemon was, along with Charles A. Doswell III, a seminal contributor to the modern conception of the supercell convective storm which was first identified by Keith Browning, and he developed the Lemon technique to estimate updraft strength and thunderstorm organization also as a continuation of Browning's work.
The following is a glossary of tornado terms. It includes scientific as well as selected informal terminology.
Louis John Wicker is an American atmospheric scientist with expertise in numerical analysis, numerical simulation, and forecasts of severe convection and tornadoes. Doing storm chasing field research, Wicker deployed the TOtable Tornado Observatory (TOTO) and was in leadership roles in the VORTEX projects. He is also known for pioneering work simulating convection at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC).
Donald W. Burgess is an American meteorologist who has made important contributions to understanding of severe convective storms, particularly tornadoes, radar observations and techniques, as well as to training other meteorologists. He was a radar operator during the first organized storm chasing expeditions by the University of Oklahoma (OU) in the early 1970s and participated in both the VORTEX projects.
Alan Roger Moller was an American meteorologist, storm chaser, nature and landscape photographer known for advancing spotter training and bridging operational meteorology with research.
Roger Edwards is an American meteorologist and expert on severe convective storms (thunderstorms). He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology (EJSSM).
Martin Lisius is an American filmmaker and storm chaser. He founded StormStock, a weather and climate stock footage collection, in 1993, and Tempest Tours, a storm chasing expedition company, in 2000. In 2018, he produced and directed the short film, Prairie Wind, among the first known 16K resolution videos to exist. In 1993, Lisius founded the Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA), a non-profit whose mission is "to bring together both professional meteorologists and weather enthusiasts in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge." Lisius was a finalist for 2023 Footage Person of the Year, an award presented by FOCAL International. Lisius is listed on the Notable Alumni web page for the Department of Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington.
