A Revised Tornado Definition and Changes in Tornado Taxonomy

Abstract

he tornado taxonomy presented by Agee and Jones is revised to account for the new definition of a tornado provided by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in October 2013, resulting in the elimination of shear-driven vortices from the taxonomy, such as gustnadoes and vortices in the eyewall of hurricanes. Other relevant research findings since the initial issuance of the taxonomy are also considered and incorporated, where appropriate, to help improve the classification system. Multiple misoscale shear-driven vortices in a single tornado event, when resulting from an inertial instability, are also viewed to not meet the definition of a tornado.