MARCH WHIRLWIND EVENTS
A slightly better than average month with four confirmed eddy whirlwinds, two confirmed tornadoes and one possible eddy whirlwind. By comparison last years March saw just the one confirmed tornado.
ew ? 20th March Wolverhampton. Midlands. Report sent in by executive Nigel Bolton. Trees uprooted and reported as whirl phenomena.
2 EW 20th March Clacton. Essex. This report was sent in by Sam Jowett. Two vortices were seen very close to Clacton pier, but were not attached to the cloud base.
2 EW 20th March 1230 GMT . West of Brecon Beacons. Powys, Wales. Courtesy of UKWW. These strange eddy vortices were filmed over a lake and photos supplied as proof.
TN 20th March. Kelso, Scottish Border. Site investigation by Ryan Little. This tornado threw haystacks into adjoining fields, uprooted trees and even stripped the bark from one tree. Categorized T2.
TN 21st March 1730 GMT. Filkins, Oxon. Original report from Toby Perry. Site investigation conducted by executive Paul Knightley, Laura Gilchrist and Brendan Jones. Categorized T3. Several trees uprooted and roofs damaged. Awaiting full damage report.
MARCH HAIL EVENT
H3 Hail 20th March. Nr Filkin, Oxon. Report with photo's courtesy Brendan Jones.
AN OFFICIAL TORNADO WATCH WAS ISSUED 18th and 19th March for UK and Ireland A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY THEN WATCH WAS ISSUED 20th and 21st March for UK and Ireland A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY WAS ISSUED 22nd March for UK
CONCLUDING REMARKS
An interesting month! The 20th of March showing four eddy whirlwind events. Quite an unusual phenomena though should not be confused with tornadoes, nevertheless a potentially powerful entity. Primarily interest was centred on 20th and 21st. These two days produced some spectacular cloud development, hopefully the start of the spring convective season.
SITE INVESTIGATIONS
A big thank you to Ryan Little, Paul Knightly, Laura Gilchrist and Brendan Jones for participating in field research on the March tornadic events. Your damage reports were very educational for us all.
For other members interested in involvement in this area of TORRO's research please go to http://www.torro.org.uk/research/siteinvestigation.php Please do not wait for me to contact you! If you have a local severe weather event, contact us and we will co ordinate with you.
FORUM
The TORRO forum now has 11 members sub categories. Please note that the first two Watches/Advisories and Severe Weather Reporting should be prioritised for initial viewing. Thank you to executive Mark Humpage for improving the forum set up for members. This is already working as a good aid for back checking events.
JOURNAL OF METEOROLOGY
Appreciation to be given to Director and editor of the Jmet Robert Doe, for working hard in modernizing and improving the Journal. Robert works very hard in the background of TORRO and the Jmet. We must remember that we work in conjunction with the Journal and it requires more research papers from our members if it is to remain current and up to date. Research Papers to http://www.torro.org.uk/jmeteoro.php
CONVECTION
Please remember the 'Convection' publication awaits more papers. TORRO director Alan and executive Wendy Rogers work hard all year to bring this free magazine to us all. http://www.torro.org.uk/convection/index.php
SPRING MEETING
Thank you to all speakers and all members who attended. Nice to see a few new faces and I think it was a good day for all. Thank you in particular to executives Ellie Gatrill-Smith for all administration and Scott Sawyer for selling loads of merchandise approx £180.00 or so I'm told. The TORRO account will serve as an important fund to benefit all members . Those new members to TORRO please make a note in your diaries for the Autumn meeting, Oxford. Date will be advertised soon.
MERCHANDISE
Scott awaits your calls. The merchandise sells well because it is good quality and the TORRO logo is very noticeable, which at the end of the day is what we need , advertisement! http://www.torro.org.uk/merchandise.php
Yours Faithfully Tony Gilbert (Director and Site Investigation Co coordinator to TORRO)