Damage Analysis and Close-Range Radar Observations of the 13 April 2019 Greenwood Springs, Mississippi, Tornado during VORTEX-SE Meso18-19

Abstract

A tornado outbreak occurred across the Southeast United States on 13–14 April 2019, during the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment - Southeast (VORTEX-SE) Meso18-19 experiment. Among the most noteworthy events was a pair of large tornadoes in Monroe County, Mississippi, near the Columbus Air Force Base (GWX) Weather Surveillance Radar - 88 Doppler (WSR-88D). The second tornado, near the Greenwood Springs community, formed within the ‘no data’ region near the radar and passed about 900 m to its east, rapidly strengthening into an intense tornado. This tornado produced forest devastation and electrical infrastructure damage up to at least EF4 intensity. The maximum radial velocity from GWX was 81.5 m s−1 (182 MPH) in a resolution volume centered at 56 m (183 ft.) above radar level. This paper presents a damage survey of the Greenwood Springs tornado and compares this assessment to the GWX data. A displacement of the maximum forest damage from the maximum radial velocity, despite the radar beam sampling <100 m ARL, is documented, as well as other likely effects of debris loading by the tornado on the observed radar signatures. The radar observations are placed into context with past mobile radar studies to illustrate the unique nature of this dataset. The relationship between radar data and damage observations, the implications for tornado structure in rough terrain and land cover, and the use of forest damage and radar data in tornado intensity estimation are discussed.