Two Examples of Operational Tornado Warnings Using Doppler Radar Data

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Denver, Colorado, has access to a variety of new observational datasets via an advanced, interactive workstation. This paper describes the impact of one of these datasets—Doppler radar—on the real-time operational capabilities in the forecast office. In particular, the forecasts during two tornadic events are emphasized. One case involved a supercell thunderstorm with a well-defined mesocyclone. The other case was one of multiple tornadoes which were not associated with a supercell. The forecasters were able to achieve significant lead times on their tornado warnings by applying appropriate conceptual models of tornadogenesis to the Doppler radar capabilities which were new to the operational environment.