The Tornado over Khanty-Mansiysk: An Exception or a Symptom?

M. V. Kurgansky, A. V. Chernokulsky, and I. I. Mokhov

Analyzed are large- and mesoscale atmospheric processes which preceded and accompanied the tornado formation on June 12, 2012 near Khanty-Mansiysk city (61N) in West Siberia. After the record-breaking hot weather observed in the region during the first half of June 2012, the tornado formation was favored by the passage of the cold front (cold advection at low altitudes), by the wind rotation with height in the lower atmospheric layer of 1.5 km (by more than 180), and by very high air humidity in the surface layer with the cloud base of about 200 m. Estimated are the possible trends in the nature of the atmospheric circulation over West Siberia at the global warming observed in the 21st century which may contribute to a more regular tornado formation in high-latitudinal regions due to the physiographic peculiarities of the region.

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