A multiscale observational case study of an isolated tornadic supercell

This work deals with the analysis of an isolated tornadic supercell thunderstorm that took place on the plain of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy) causing several damage. The analysis is performed using different kind of data, looking in the available information for possible signatures that could be helpful in the forecasting and nowcasting procedures. The analysis reveals that rather than a single cause for the tornadic storm development, there is an “interaction” of several effects. In particular, a favorable environment seems to be produced by the interplay between synoptic and mesoscale environments with a fundamental role played by orography. Radar data, in particular Doppler measurements, are fundamental to the recognition and interpretation of the events but in this particular case they could give little useful information for the forecasting and nowcasting procedures. The most robust signals of an environment prone to the onset of severe deep moist convection come from the thermal gradients at the ground and by the vertical profile analysis. The reason why the event took place in that specific place and not in others is still unknown.