Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes: A Review of Knowledge in Research and Prediction

Abstract

The scientific documentation and investigation of tropical cyclone (TC) tornadoes has spanned portions of ten decades, but has been missing a documentary overview of topical knowledge accumulated to any given point in that time span.  This review article summarizes the evolution of TC tornado-related literature from the perspectives of crucial historic tornadoes, climatology, distribution patterns, applied research into their environments, remote and environmental observations, forecasting practices, and numerical simulations at various scales.  Discussion of the future of TC tornado research and prediction includes several testable hypotheses, along with potentially beneficial tools soon to be available to operational forecasters.