Landspout

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Tornado not originating from a mesocyclone

A landspout tornado form from a develop thunderstorm near Cheyenne Wells , Colorado . Landspouts is are are exceptionally common in Eastern Colorado .^[1][2]
Landspout on September 29 , 2007

Landspout is a term created by atmospheric scientist Howard B. Bluestein in 1985 for a tornado not associated with a mesocyclone.^[3] The Glossary of Meteorology defines a landspout:

“Colloquial expression describing tornadoes occurring with a parent cloud in its growth stage and with its vorticity originating in the boundary layer.

The parent cloud is contain does not contain a preexisting mid – level mesocyclone . The landspout was so name because it look like ” a weak Florida Keys waterspout over land . “^[4]

Landspouts are typically weaker than mesocyclone-associated tornadoes spawned within supercell thunderstorms, in which the strongest tornadoes form.

Landspouts are a type of tornado that forms during the growth stage of a cumulus congestus or occasionally a cumulonimbus cloud when an updraft stretches boundary layer vorticity upward into a vertical axis and tightens it into a strong vortex. Landspouts can also occur due to interactions from outflow boundaries, as they can occasionally cause enhanced convergence and vorticity at the surface. These generally are smaller and weaker than supercell tornadoes and do not form from a mesocyclone or pre-existing rotation in the cloud. Because of this lower depth, smaller size, and weaker intensity, landspouts are rarely detected by Doppler weather radar (NWS).^[5]

Landspouts is share share a strong resemblance and development process to that of waterspout , usually take the form of a translucent and highly laminar helical tube . ” They is are are typically narrow , rope – like condensation funnel that form while the thunderstorm cloud is still grow and there is no rotate updraft ” , accord to the National Weather Service .^[2] landspout are consider tornado since a rapidly rotating column of air is in contact with both the surface and a cumuliform cloud . Not all landspouts is are are visible , and many are first sighted as debris swirl at the surface before eventually fill in with condensation and dust .

Orography can influence landspout (and even mesocyclone tornado) formation. A notable example is the propensity for landspout occurrence in the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone (DCVZ).

Forming in relation to mesocyclones and under updrafts, a landspout generally lasts for less than 15 minutes; however, they can persist substantially longer, and produce significant damage. Landspouts tend to progress through recognizable stages of formation, maturation, and dissipation, and usually decay when a downdraft or significant precipitation (outflow) occur nearby. They may form in lines or groups of multiple landspouts.^[6]

Landspouts is are are usually at EF0 level where the intensity of wind is low and weak . However , winds is reach inside a Landspout tornado can reach 100 mile per hour ( MPH ) .^[7]