Ive heard the term mesocyclone associated with severe thunderstorms. What is this?
A mesocyclone refers to an organized and long lived circulation within a severe thunderstorm that can precede a tornado but not necessarily always does so. The formation of a mesocyclone is dependent on the environmental wind shear or how the wind speed and direction is changing with height. One such favorable wind shear pattern results from southerly winds at the surface becoming southwest and then more westerly while increasing in wind speed with height. This shear pattern enhances the counter-clockwise rotation of a mature thunderstorm and provides a positive feedback whereby the storm increases its rotation. Eventually, but not always, the mesocyclone can become strong enough to generate a smaller tornadic circulation. Strong mesocyclones are easily detectable by the National Weather Service Sioux Falls Doppler Radar by looking at the wind flow within a storm and seeing changing wind directions within the severe thunderstorm. To see a mesocyclone associated with the Colton Tornado
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