DECEMBER WHIRLWIND EVENTS
No whirlwind events were reported to TORRO for this month. Where as December 2001 saw six confirmed waterspouts.
NO OFFICIAL TORRO ADVISORIES, WATCHES OR WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR DECEMBER
CONCLUDING COMMENTS FOR DECEMBER
December 2002 remained a rather uneventful month all round, particularly so for severe weather. Statically this was to be expected. The early part of the month saw a blocking high develop over Norway feeding in cold air from the east with many areas receiving a good dusting of snow and some frosty nights. Irritatingly, the high also served to deflect any potential severe weather excitement elsewhere. Likewise the British Storm Watchers Community has fallen on quiet times as has the TORRO mailing list. Whilst a few low pressure systems did traverse the UK through the latter part of the month, none were particularly deep or vigorous. Though many areas did fall foul to flooding due to very heavy rainfall.
2002 UK WHIRLWIND EVENT TOTALS
I have included 'probables' in the following figures to avoid a lengthy listing. The following should be regarded as approximations till the yearly roundup is printed in the Journal of Meteorology:- 2002 saw 36 tornadoes, 11 waterspouts, 62 funnel clouds, eight land devils, 2 Eddy whirlwinds and 1 whirlwind. By way of comparison 2001 saw 22 tornadoes, 15 waterspouts, 59 funnel clouds, 9 land devils and 1 remarkable shower. So, in many ways a more active year than many had realised!
CONCLUDING COMMENTS FOR 2002
By comparison to earlier years 2002 overall was not a particularly busy year for TORRO though there were some memorable events that did hit the headlines. Such events included the 15th October Torquay Waterspout/Tornado which was said to have travelled up to nine miles inland and may have been associated with the track of the triple point. This could be a nice venue for future research. Any offers?
The 9th August saw as many as seven tornadic events through central and south west regions of the UK. Headline news the following day sparked a 'Twister Mania'! The following day also saw yet more tornadoes some of which caused extensive damage across Essex, and two of which were filmed. The excellent footage has since been donated to TORRO, one showing a weak vortex passing directly over the house from which the entity was being filmed. The voice in the background chuckled as an umbrella is seen lifting to a great height much like 'Mary Poppin's! For those lightning fans a very electrical day came to pass on the 15th August where Paul Knightley and myself led the 'Independent Newspaper' team into some pretty exciting weather, all in the name of 'good publicity'.
Several directors represented TORRO at the August 2002 Prague Severe Weather Conference furthering our cause and knowledge throughout Europe. It is hoped that by better communication across the continent we may learn more of 'their' many severe weather events and thereby helping us to better understand what is happening on our own doorstep.
TORRO would like to thank those members who have involved themselves in tornado site investigations or other research through 2002. This also includes those that merely surf the internet news and post the link or send in newspaper clippings. Your efforts have all gone toward bettering our knowledge of events. Many thanks to newly appointed TORRO mailing list administrator Mark Humpage, TORRO's web weaver Matt Capper and TORRO's newly appointed severe weather forecaster Paul Knightley for their time and effort. TORRO would also like to thank the various staff with their roles within TORRO, no matter how small. Appreciations are offered to Alan and Wendy Rogers with their concerted effort in bringing a more informal touch to the science of weather by publishing the 'Convection' Magazine and so to for Robert Doe our newly appointed editor for the Journal of Meteorology. And last but not least a big thankyou to the UK Meteorological Office who kept us informed throughout the year of reported severe weather events, often within minutes of them occurring. All efforts go toward keeping TORRO up and running and allows us to still remain in the 'fore-front' for severe weather research and the first port of call by the public and media here in the UK.
Here's wishing you all a prosperous but extremely stormy New Year!
Best Wishes Tony Gilbert (Executive to The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation)
Tornado Site Investigation Co ordinator.