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The rear flank downdraft (RFD) is a region of dry air wrapping around the back of a mesocyclone in a supercell thunderstorm. [1] These areas of descending air are thought to be essential in the production of many supercellular tornadoes. Large hail within the rear flank downdraft often shows up brightly as a hook on weather radar images ...
Classical tornadoes are supercellular tornadoes, which have a recognizable pattern of formation. [5] The cycle begins when a strong thunderstorm develops a rotating mesocyclone a few miles up in the atmosphere. As rainfall in the storm increases, it drags with it an area of quickly descending air known as the rear flank downdraft (RFD). This ...
The forward flank downdraft (FFD) is noticeably weaker than for other supercell types, and the rear-flank downdraft (RFD) is much weaker—even visually absent in many cases. Like classic supercells, LP supercells tend to form within stronger mid-to-upper level storm-relative wind shear; [ 10 ] however, the atmospheric environment leading to ...
A rotating wall cloud with rear flank downdraft clear slot evident to its left rear. Storm spotters are trained to discern whether a storm seen from a distance is a supercell. [8] They typically look to its rear, the main region of updraft and inflow. [8]
This tornado was accompanied by an intense rear-flank downdraft surge, with the total damage path width being recorded at 2.7 mi (4.3 km). A Ka-POL radar from Texas Tech University had been recording the tornado throughout its life cycle, and recorded a wind gust of 87.9 m/s (197 mph; 316 km/h) near the surface, while confirming the tornado's ...
For a tornado to form in this manner, a rear-flank downdraft enters the center of the mesocyclone from the back. Cold air, being denser than warm air, is able to penetrate the updraft. The combination of the updraft and downdraft completes the development of a tornado. Tornadoes that form in this method are often violent and can last over an ...
As the tornado enters the dissipating stage, its associated mesocyclone often weakens as well, as the rear flank downdraft cuts off the inflow powering it. Sometimes, in intense supercells, tornadoes can develop cyclically. As the first mesocyclone and associated tornado dissipate, the storm's inflow may be concentrated into a new area closer ...
The rear-flank downdraft of the storm quickly obscured the tornado from view; however, it was later determined the tornado was on the ground for 1.5 mi (2.4 km), uprooting small trees and snapping limbs of larger ones. [22]