A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma. The lower part of this tornado is surrounded by a translucent dust cloud, kicked up by the tornado’s strong winds at the surface. The wind of the tornado has a much wider radius than the funnel itself.
Credit: Daphne Zaras/NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Tornadoes occur in North America, South America, Southern Africa, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More tornadoes occur in the United States than anywhere else in the world.
Meteorologists can detect tornadoes before or as they occur. Several American Geophysical Union scientists are available to comment on the science of tornadoes, including tornado formation, forecasting, warning systems, hazards and damage mitigation.
John Allen is an associate professor of meteorology at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. His expertise is on the connections between large scale climate change and variability and severe thunderstorm phenomena like hail and tornadoes. He studies various aspects of that relationship, the historical records of tornadoes and hail both in the United States and globally, and whether scientists can predict tornado and hail seasonal activity in advance.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (989) 774-1923
William Gallus is a professor of meteorology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. His expertise is on the structure, evolution, and prediction of thunderstorms and tornadoes. He studies the use of numerical models to predict these events, with a special emphasis on summer precipitation.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (515) 451-2196
Victor Gensini is a professor in the geographic and atmospheric sciences department at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. His research focuses on tornadoes, severe weather climatology, and weather forecasting.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (815) 303-2381
Jana Houser is an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at The Ohio State University. Her research expertise is on tornadoes and the storms that produce them, the interaction of the tornado with the ground below, and atmospheric studies using radar observations.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (614) 292-2514
Jason Naylor is an assistant professor in the department of geography and geosciences at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. His expertise includes tornadoes and other severe weather phenomena. A large portion of his research focuses on the physical processes responsible for tornado formation, duration and intensity.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (502) 852-5190
Looking for experts in other topic areas? Visit AGU’s Stay Informed page for up-to-date expert lists.