UK as a fine breeding
ground for tornadoes
Transcript of keynote
speech by Donald Burfitt-Dons continued
Tornadoes have exceptionally strong winds but over
quite a small footprint, which is just as well, because the UK is acknowledged
as a fine breeding ground for them. Our geographical position where
polar air masses meet tropical ones coming up from the equator makes
for vertical instability.
The key point is that greater warming of the equatorial air mass gives
more potential for the conditional instability especially along active
frontal systems. This makes for active thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes.
Along with the increase in extreme weather from ETCs it is rational
to expect a similar increase in tornadoes.
In the USA the 2008 tornado season has opened with
a bang. The forecast by NOAA for the whole season is way beyond the
average of the previous ten years. If that works out losses will also
be a record.
Can we expect a similar increase in the UK? More latent
heat to be recycled, more thunderstorms and probably more tornadoes.
Continued Donald Burfitt-Dons discusses
the impact on the insurance industry
the
planet's way of recycling heat energy/
the first Brazilian hurricane/cyclones
outside the tropics/how
the GWA monitors hurricane activity/the
rising tropopause/ETC activity
since the 50s/l ETC activity
since 1990/ the effect of an ETC
on London /how superwinds form/
the impact of ETCs on aircraft/data
from 21 recent storms/ UK as a breeding
ground for tornadoes/
the impact on the insurance industry/
future implications /threat
of ETCs to Europe and UK
