This is alist of government or academic case studies on individualtornadoes ortornado outbreaks which occurred during the 2020s. Acase study is an in-depth analysis which focuses on a single event, several events, and/or a specific aspect of an event.[1][2]
Case studies published by academia are included in this list. As part of the United StatesNational Weather Service's (NWS) andEnvironment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) official duties, they are required to conduct a damage survey on every tornado in the United States and Canada. For this reason, only publications by the NWS and ECCC beyond a standard damage survey are included as,on average, over 1,200 tornadoes occur annually in the two countries together. Tornado records in Europe are kept by theEuropean Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) in the European Severe Weather Database. For this reason, only publications by ESSL outside of the database are included.
| Tornado(es) | Max rating | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 Lawrence–Kansas City tornado | EF4 | A 2020 study focused on thedebris fallout caused by this tornado as it moved overKansas City International Airport.[3] |
| 2020 Nashville tornado outbreak | N/A | Researchers withMississippi State University andIndiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis published a case study on how TV stations covered the outbreak.[4] |
| 2020 Nashville tornado | EF3 | Researchers with theUniversity of Oklahoma’sCIWRO, theNational Severe Storms Laboratory, theUniversity of Maryland, College Park published a case study on the short-term forecasting of thisnocturnal tornado.[5] |
| 2020 Cookeville tornado | EF4 | Researchers with the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, theUniversity of Maryland, College Park published a case study on the short-term forecasting of this nocturnal tornado.[5] |
| Researchers from theUniversity of Oklahoma,Auburn University, andUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign conducted a case study on survivors of the tornado can help future forensic engineering.[6] | ||
| 2020 Easter tornado outbreak | N/A | Researchers with the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, andNational Weather Service forecasting office inColumbia, South Carolina, published a case study on the forecasting of and the aftermath of the second day of the2020 Easter tornado outbreak, more commonly known as the Central Savannah River outbreak.[7] |
| Researchers withMississippi State University andIndiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis published a case study on how TV stations covered the outbreak.[4] | ||
| 2020 Scarth tornado | CEF3 | Researchers with theUniversity of Western Ontario's Northern Tornado Project conducted a case study on this tornado, in which, they estimated the tornado had winds of at least 110–119 metres per second (250–270 mph; 400–430 km/h) based on an analysis of an SUV and a truck thrown by the tornado 50 metres (55 yd) and 100 metres (110 yd) respectively.[8] |
| 2021 South Moravia tornado | IF4 | Researchers with theEuropean Severe Storms Laboratory,Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Meteopress,Comenius University, andCharles University published a detailed damage survey of the tornado using the brand newInternational Fujita scale (IF-scale).[9] |
| A case study by Simona Hoskovcová, Martina Wolf Čapková, and Štěpán Vymětalon on the "phycological crisis" created by the tornado.[10] | ||
| Researchers withPalacký University Olomouc and the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague published a case study on the tornado.[11] | ||
| Researchers with theBrno University of Technology published a case study on the damage caused by the tornado.[12] | ||
| Researchers with the European Severe Storms Laboratory, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Charles University, Meteopress, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Commenius University, Geosphere, Austrocontrol, andBrno University of Technology, published a detailed damage survey of the tornado through theAmerican Meteorological Society using a new version of the International Fujita scale.[13] | ||
| Tornado outbreak of 11–13 July 2021 | N/A | Researchers withPeking University,China Meteorological Administration Tornado Key Laboratory, Foshan Tornado Research Center, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, and theChina Meteorological Administration published a case study on thetornado outbreak, which was the second-ever record tornado outbreak in Chinese history.[14] |
| 2021 Quad-State Supercell | N/A | Researchers with theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln published a detailed case study on the polarimetric radar observations obtained on the 2021 Quad-State Supercell, which produced 11 tornadoes, including two long-track, violent EF4 tornadoes.[15] |
| 2021 Western Kentucky tornado | EF4 | A case study by Rebecca Freihaut with theUniversity of Central Florida on how the residents ofMayfield, Kentucky recovered after the tornado.[16] |
| A case study by researchers fromPennsylvania State University on how historicmasonry structures inMayfield, Kentucky performed during the tornado.[17] | ||
| A detailed damage survey and analysis of part of the tornado's track, focusing mainly onMayfield, Kentucky published byTimothy Marshall, a meteorologist,structural andforensic engineer; Zachary B. Wienhoff, with Haag Engineering Company; Christine L. Wielgos, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service of Paducah; and Brian E. Smith, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service ofOmaha. In their conclusion, the researchers state, "the tornado damage rating might have been higher had more wind resistant structures been encountered. Also, the fast forward speed of the tornado had little ‘dwell’ time of strong winds over a building and thus, the damage likely would have been more severe if the tornado were slower."[18] | ||
| 2022 Arabi–New Orleans tornado | EF3 | Researchers withAuburn University,Florida International University,Pennsylvania State University,Louisiana State University,University of South Alabama,University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,University of Kentucky, andCoreLogic, published an academic case study on howhurricane-resistant houses performed during the tornado.[19] |
| 2023 Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado | EF4 | TheNational Weather Service offices inJackson, Mississippi andNashville, Tennessee, along with theNational Severe Storms Laboratory and the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO publish a joint damage survey and analysis on the tornado.[20] |
| A case study from researchers withNanyang Technological University and theUniversity of California on how soil moisture observations led to discrepancies being discovered on the tornado's track vs spotter confirmations vs official damage assessments from theNational Weather Service.[21] | ||
| A case study by researchers from theMicrosoft AI for Good Research Lab,Microsoft Philanthropies, and theAmerican Red Cross on how rapid building damage assessment was conducted following the tornado.[22] | ||
| A case study by researchers with the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO, theNational Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant on the tornado.[23] | ||
| 2023 Black Hawk–Winona tornado | EF3 | TheNational Weather Service offices inJackson, Mississippi andNashville, Tennessee, along with theNational Severe Storms Laboratory and the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO publish a joint damage survey and analysis on the tornado.[20] |
| A case study by researchers with the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO, theNational Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant on the tornado.[23] | ||
| 2023 New Wren–Amory tornado | EF3 | TheNational Weather Service offices inJackson, Mississippi andNashville, Tennessee, along with theNational Severe Storms Laboratory and the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO publish a joint damage survey and analysis on the tornado.[20] |
| Researchers with theOak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a case study and detailed damage survey of the tornado.[24] | ||
| A case study by researchers with the University of Oklahoma'sCIWRO, theNational Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant on the tornado.[23] | ||
| Tornado outbreak of 19–20 April 2023 | N/A | TheNational Weather Service office inNorman, Oklahoma published a detailed damage survey and analysis for tornadoes during the outbreak.[25] |
| 2023 Didsbury tornado | CEF4 | Researchers with theUniversity of Western Ontario's Northern Tornado Project conducted a case study on this tornado, in which, they estimated the tornado had winds at least 119 metres per second (270 mph; 430 km/h) based on an analysis of a New Holland TR86 combine harvester that was thrown 100 metres (110 yd) by the tornado.[8] |
| 2023 Jersey tornado | IF3 | Researchers with theTornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO),Met Office, and Jersey Met, published a case study on the storm which produced an intense tornado and ahailstorm on the island nation ofJersey.[26] |
| 2024 oThongathi tornado | EF3 | The South African Weather Service conducted a nine-day damage survey andcase study on the rare tornado.[27] |
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