TORNADOES ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANES

Abstract

One of the tornadoes associated with Hurricane Able, 1952, occurred near Washington, D. C., and simultaneously with the upper air sounding made there. This led to a comparison between this particular tornado, along with others of similar environment, and conditions attributed to tornadoes in general. All such tornadoes associated with hurricanes have to date been observed only in the forward semicircle or along the advancing periphery of the tropical storm. The evidence is strong in favor of time of day having little relation to the occurrence of such tornadoes. A hypothesis is suggested wherein the weaker or nonexistent cyclonic horizontal wind shear of the environment may contribute to the lesser severity of these tornadoes. Unlike the typical tornado sounding, the limited evidence indicates the absence of (1) a low level temperature inversion, (2) sharp moisture stratification of dry air over moist air, (3) excessive instability.