How Do Supercell Thunderstorms Work?

A simplified explanation of Supercell thunderstorms and how they work using a real world example.

Forecast sounding, and GOES-16 Satellite view courtesy of the College of Dupage Next Generation Weather Lab

If you enjoyed the video please feel free to like and perhaps subscribe, it helps me out A LOT.

[lovingred]

The overlay is such a HUGE HUGE HELP! These storms are so technical, making it really hard for those of us who look at the sky & say, "hey cool looking thunderstorm!". But when you add in the overlay, it instantly makes everything click! Best of luck & please keep making great content. 👍 💜

[brandons]

For someone with a life-long fascination with tornadoes, this is by far the clearest & most complete explanation of how tornadoes form I've ever seen. Heard bits & pieces of what was discussed but never so vividly & easily understood as in this video.

[gcorriveau]

I flew for a Research and Hail Suppression program in Alberta in the summer of 1974. (Hailstop '74). I was flying missions to seed bases below the Weak Echo Region (as read from a ground based met radar station) and aided by visual recognition of inflow regions, shelf clouds, etc... The air was always laminar - and sometimes the biggest challenge was to remain in visual flight conditions BELOW the inflow region and not be drawn up into the cloud. I also flew 'top seeding' missions in the vicinity of 20 to 25, 000 feet (using the outside air temp for clues) and dropped seeding canisters into the tops of rapidly growing turrets. Once again - always in smooth air. Meanwhile, a group of scientists on the project were flying updraft penetrations in a Cessna 414 fully equipped with cloud physics sampling equipment and airborne weather radar. It was a fascinating summer's job! All I learned about operating (safely!) around T-storms - and from my many conversations with the scientists on the project -provided a great base for my airline career that followed. Your explanations and photos reveal a much better understanding of Supercell dynamics than we had in 1974! This is great review and training aid. Thanks for sharing.

[B_COOPER]

I never would’ve thought that the “horseshoe section of clouds that has no rainfall” would be the most dangerous area to be in. It looks like it’s the only safe place because of the sun light!

[BakerMikeRomeo]

this video does a tremendous job creating connective tissue between video footage, a photograph, a data chart, radar map, and a satellite map - it really does a wonderful job synthesizing all these views into a more complete mental picture of the storm

[weatherataglance]

Very well done. It is very professional and taught me a couple of things about supercell components.

[ethanschoonbeck]

I’ve seen people draw lines before over pictures of the clouds, however, having the top-down overlay showing the horizontal wind directions is super helpful, as is color coding them with your view of the clouds from a vertical perspective.

[sealestiale]

the minecraft tornado caught me so off guard 😭 wonderful video

[PsyTramper]

Random dude from Germany here. I LOVE extreme weather and one of my bucket list dreams is to witness a (preferably rural) tornado myself one day. I live in central Germany and in my village we did actually have an EF1 or possibly EF2 13 years back, but I wasn´t at home that day, but in the village next to home, wondering why the sky turned into an orange theatre full of hail. I wish I would´ve been home that day and it would´ve passed my home within I´m always excited to check YouTube during the current tornado seasons each year and every year I ask myself how this extreme weather shapes and forms those beasts. This video was a really great answer to my question so thank you very very much :)

[larryshaw]

Wow that was the best explanation of a supercell I have ever watched. Fantastic job! Keep up the great work.

[skepticon]

Simple and accurate, this presentation is one of a handful I consider as a legitimate prerequisite for those interested in accurately interpreting mesocyclone features and potential outcomes

[SuV]

Straight line winds tore up our town a few yrs back (suburb of Rochester, NY). The highest gust was almost 90 mph. I know, not as powerful as some tornados and hurricanes, or derechos (sp?) but Iost power for a week. That was a storm I only want to experience once in my
Great video though! I'm totally into weather stuff!

[murmaider]

Really explained this well. I know next to nothing about meteorology but this made sense.

[kenbklynbklyn]

Bro your videos are very detailed your a very talented narrator and how you explained every detail

[talmancharters]

This video is, without a doubt, the best explanation of how and why a tornado forms that I have yet found. Really well done - great visuals, great video, great narration. Keep up with this - you have a gift for explanation.

[hemlockVape]

You laid the facts out nicely. I had a mental image of the downflow/upflow relationship that was incomplete. 👍🏻

[brucesail]

I love that you turned all the tech-speak of the NOAA forecasters into these practical and real-world observations that we’ve all experienced with supercells and severe T’storms dozens of times. With the increase in range and frequency of severe weather events, it pays to know where the most dangerous areas like large hail, gust fronts, bow echoes, and tornadoes are most likely to be. As a sailor, I want to be as far away from damaging weather as possible. I appreciate it!

[klintschor]

I'm 52 years old and live in Oklahoma and have never had a thunder storm and tornado phases of structure so well explained!

[scottleitch]

I wish someone would have explained this so well for me, took me years to understand, and this made me understand in a new way.

[GreanePin]

Very informative. Answered almost all the questions I had about tornado genesis and super cells relationship to their creation. A+