West Lafayette-The F4 tornado that crippled Moore, Oklahoma this week is a very rare event, says Michael Baldwin, Associate Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette. Most tornados, he explains, are weaker ones— EF0 to EF1—in the United States and here in Indiana. He says that Indiana has experienced serious tornados, similar to what happened in Oklahoma this week, and will again. Historically Indiana has experienced catastrophic events such as the Palm Sunday Tornados in 1965, The Super Outbreak with 21 tornados touching down in Indiana on April 3, 1974, and the Tri-State Tornados in 1925, considered the “deadliest significant tornado-event in US history,” he continues. F4 to F5 tornados form by a combination of atmospheric conditions, moist and unstable air close to the ground, dry and cooler air upwards and strong vertical wind shears, he explains. In addressing violent tornado outbreaks due to global warming, Professor Baldwin says that researchers are currently trying to understand the impact of warmer temperatures as it relates to these events, but says “There are no observable trends we are aware of.”
Professor Baldwin also is a co-leader of the National Science Foundation-funded MPEX, (Mesocscale Predictability Experiment), a field project to improve severe weather predictions. This work includes taking atmospheric measurements before and after storms across the Great Plains. His research is also on improving computer models for predicting weather events and ways to improve forecasts.
