ArtRosen Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 How does a multi-vortex tornado form differently than just a single vortex tornado? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewxmann Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I'm not well-versed in tornado dynamics, but it has to do something with a dimensionless quantity known as the swirl ratio. When this exceeds ~1, the tornado undergoes a process called vortex breakdown from which multiple vortices evolve. For more information, check out this paper by Lee and Wurman, and go to Figure 11 for a schematic (that section contains the swirl ratio equation and some more stuff): http://journals.amet....1175/JAS3489.1 Citations found in that section may be helpful. AtticaFanatica probably knows more about these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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