Analysis of a Series of Tornado Events during 8 July 2003 in Anhui Province with New Generation Weather Radar Data

A series of tornado events occurred during 8 July 2003 in Anhui province is analyzed briefly with the new generation weather radar data. From the night of 8 to the early morning of 9 July 2003, associated with a mesoscale squall line which embodied within a large precipitation area, a series of four smallscale vortex signatures appear at the leading edge of the squall line. One of the microscale vortex lasted two and a half hour, produced tornadoes in Lujiang county and Wuwei county, consecutively. The tornado in Wuwei county attained F2-F3 and caused severe life loss and poverty damage. Analysis shows that this tornado is a non supercell tornado, which presents little signature on reflectivity maps but clear micro vortex signature on radial velocity maps could be seen, indicating that the new generation weather radar, with its ability to measure the radial velocity, greatly enhanced weather radar's capability to detect the tornadoes.