A landspout tornado is a less intense tornado. It's usually weaker and shorter-lived than the classic tornadoes we see in ...

The National Weather Service's definition of a mesocyclone is a rotation signature appearing on Doppler radar that meets specific criteria for magnitude, vertical depth and duration.

Radar returns from birds, ... this may be the signature of a mesocyclone--a rotating thunderstorm. Approximately 40% of all mesocyclones produce tornadoes. 90% of the time, ...

When severe weather strikes, understanding the terminology can be the difference between life and death. Among these crucial ...

A mesocyclone is a low pressure area inside the thunderstorm that sometimes helps to cause a tornado. Visual evidence of a mesocylone is sometimes displayed as a wall cloud.

Technically, the mesocyclone is defined as the radar signature that appears if one is present (a yellow circle on Doppler velocity products), but you can often see the rotation with your bare eyes.

Inside the radar dome there is a dish that is spinning around 360 degrees. ... However, in any event this kind of technology can be an early indicator of a developing mesocyclone, ...

Radar allowed the detection of mesocyclones, which became the basis for tornado forecasts and a boon for chasers, who would stop at payphones periodically to call the lab for the latest radar intel.