Tornadoes threaten our communities every year. They can occur throughout the U.S. in any season, and at any time of day. Currently an area of concern is the type of storms from which tornadoes form. "Supercell" thunderstorms are thought to be the most common tornado producers. Yet, recent studies... Show moreTornadoes threaten our communities every year. They can occur throughout the U.S. in any season, and at any time of day. Currently an area of concern is the type of storms from which tornadoes form. "Supercell" thunderstorms are thought to be the most common tornado producers. Yet, recent studies have brought forth the question of how many tornadoes form within other storm types, such as squall lines or hurricane rainbands. A related question regards possible relationships between parent storm type and tornado intensity. In this study, Doppler radar reflectivity images were analyzed for each tornado case between March 1998 and February 1999 to determine whether the parent storm type was a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), cell, or hurricane rainband. 1,660 total tornadoes were analyzed for the 12-month study, and cells produced the majority (76%). QLCSs accounted for 19%, and hurricane rainbands were responsible for 5%. Seasonal, diurnal, and geographical distributions will be presented to show any patterns in frequency on such scales. A distribution by damage intensity will also be provided to illustrate the level of danger each classification of tornadoes can pose. In addition, two case studies are presented to describe the meteorological environments of a non-tornadic and a tornadic QLCS from this study. Show less
