ESS170 Name ___________________________

Activity #9 [2 pts]

Activity #9 – Tornado Forecasting

You are on-duty as a tornado forecaster one spring afternoon. Included at the end of this
activity are the surface (1000 mb) and 500-mb maps (Figs. 1 and 2, respectively) at this
time. Numerous locations have been labeled.

1. a) First, draw barbs and flags representing the surface (1000 mb) wind for the 6 locations
below. Hint: The surface winds can simply be copied from Fig. 1.

b) Next, draw barbs and flags representing the 500-mb wind for the same 6 locations. Here
you will make use of Fig. 2. Assume: a) the 500 mb wind is blowing parallel to the
isotherms (see Fig. 2), and b) the wind speed is 60 kts at each location. [.3]

500 mb

1000 mb

M A X J C U
2. Circle the 3 stations above which possess the greatest amount of vertical wind shear.

3. A tornado outbreak occurred soon

after! To determine which location
above is most conducive for tornado Station
a) Vertical b) Ahead of
c) Moisture?
development: Wind Shear? Front?
M
a) Place 3 “YES” in the first column to
the right indicating again the 3 A
locations with the greatest amount X
of vertical wind shear. [.5] J
b) Place 2 “YES” in the second C
column if the location is “ahead” of U
a front (Hint: one location is less
than 400 mi to the east of the
cold front; the other is less than
400 mi to the north of the
warm front). Use the map scale. [.4]

done 3
d)c)IfPlace correctly,
“YES” inone
thelocation in the table should have the ideal combination of:
last column
indicating the 3 stations with the
 vertical
highest amounts wind[.3]
of moisture. shear,
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  upward motion (because of a front or unstable atmosphere), and
 moisture

To retain your job, draw a tornado watch box (see below) on the surface map over that
location. You are also welcome to copy and paste the parallelogram. [.1]

Sample
Watch Box

e) From your analysis, a rule of thumb can be constructed to pinpoint where tornadoes are most
likely with respect to the mid-latitude cyclone. In conclusion, with respect to the “ L,” the
tornado box is typically located to the “L’s”: [.1]

(a) northwest (b) northeast (c) southeast (d) southwest

f) Not surprisingly, meteorologists have already come up with a name for this ‘sweet spot’ for
tornado outbreaks – “Larko’s Triangle.” This triangle is formed by 3 points, located at:

 The L itself.
 A point along the warm front ~800 miles east of the L. (Hint: use the map scale.)
 A point along the cold front ~800 miles south-southwest of the L.

Thus, it is always wise when you are looking at a surface weather map to determine if you are
located in Larko’s Triangle! To show the location of Larko’s Triangle on this particular day:

1. First, identify the 3 points above by drawing dots.

2. Connect these dots to form a triangle – Larko’s Triangle! [.2]

3. Hatch this triangle ( ) to emphasize that people in this area should be wary of
tornadoes. [.1]

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 49
49 Y

X
55
53
65 W

L
61

40 46 61
69 70
28 35 F 58 V
A 65 65 U
50 H
48 42 G
68 74 76 72
32 B 70 J
66 66 S 61 T
I
75
52 63 R
47 C
77
69
K
73
71
64 Q SCALE
68 N
55
51
D
75
76 400 MI
67 M 78 O
70 L
68
74
72 E
80 P
73
FIGURE 1
SURFACE
(1000 MB) MAP

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