Kelsey Ellis, associate professor in the UT Department of Geography and Sustainability, will present “The Trouble with Tennessee’s Tornadoes: Messy, misunderstood, and multiplying” Friday, Nov. 3 at noon via Zoom.
What is so special about tornadoes in the Volunteer state and the broader Southeast region? For a decade, Associate Professor Ellis has focused her research on Tennessee tornadoes, which are more likely to be strong, long-track, and deadly. Because of the atmospheric environment that supports tornadic storms here, they can occur at all times of day and all seasons. This environment creates “messier” convection, which makes it more challenging to identify potential tornadoes within the storms––a necessary step for the National Weather Service to be able to issue a warning to the public, as demonstrated by the unwarned tornado August 7, 2023, in West Knoxville. The resulting complex climatology of tornadic storms in the Southeast can cause the public to misunderstand their tornado risk and alter their attention to tornado alerts and associated protective actions.
In her presentation, Ellis will discuss how these challenges are only growing in importance as tornadoes are increasing in frequency across the Southeast and how addressing these challenges relies on interdisciplinary work in social science, meteorology, climatology, and operational weather forecasting.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once registered, you will receive an email with information about joining the meeting via Zoom.
Register today for the Nov. 3 Science Forum Lecture.
Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash