SBC Session 194 - The Historic 31 March – 01 April 2023 Tornado Outbreak

Описание: The United States’ third largest tornado outbreak on record since 1950 occurred on 31 March - 01 April 2023 with 147 tornadoes across 11 states, including a large portion of eastern Iowa and Illinois. Within the NWS Quad Cities, IA/IL county warning area (CWA) there were 29 tornadoes, with a staggering 15 that were rated EF2+, which were the greatest number of strong tornadoes in the CWA from a single event on record. This included the strongest tornado of the national outbreak, an EF4 near Keota, IA, having peak estimated winds up to 170 mph, a 20 mile path length, and a maximum width of 700 yards. This presentation explored the environmental to storm scale setup that contributed to the tornado outbreak and the character of its evolution, in particular the violent tornadic supercell near Keota, IA, and how meteorological analysis was translated into effective tactical messaging that likely contributed to saving lives.

About the Presenter: Zach Uttech is a Lead Meteorologist at the Quad Cities WFO and has been in the National Weather Service (NWS) for 12 years. Before arriving in the Quad Cities, he began his NWS career at the Great Falls, MT WFO. He has a B.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a M.S. from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. His passions are forecasting winter weather and working severe weather operations.

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