ONE-MINUTE LOOP

DISCUSSION OF 1-MIN LOOPS

. . . . . satellite imagery shows an interesting occurrence at this time. A small storm tries to develop in the stratiform-covered region south of the three primary storms we had been following. However, it dies within 45 min of its inception (at about 2240 UTC), and puts out a very small arc cloud line ("A" in figure). This cloud feature moves north, reaching the Moberly storm by 2330 UTC. The flanking 'feeder' towers on the south side of the Moberly storm ("B" in figure) grow very rapidly as the arc line approaches. An animated loop is available for those with MPEG viewers. The evolution and southern flank feature described herein are identical to the one discussed in Weaver and Purdom, 1995 just prior to the touchdown of the F5 Hesston, Kansas tornado of 13Mar1990. In the present case, the Moberly tornado forms within minutes of the arrival of this very small scale outflow feature. Touchdown was approximately 2339 UTC. Super Rapid Scan (1-minute intervals at times) image sequences provided unparalleled monitoring of the structure of this storm, and the growth of the flanking towers.