Overview
- Researchers report that WoFS guidance can precede tornado formation by up to an hour, far beyond today’s typical 15-minute warning lead time.
- The system ingests radar and satellite observations about every 15 minutes and runs three-kilometer simulations that assess near-storm environments rather than simulating tornadoes directly.
- Tornado-producing supercells displayed stronger and more expansive low-level rotation with larger areas of enhanced storm-relative helicity near the inflow region than hail-only storms.
- Lower cloud bases—1,600 to 3,300 feet closer to the ground—along with stronger low-level shear persisted during the hour before tornadoes in the analyzed cases.
- Findings come from a limited sample of 41 springtime Plains storms (15 EF1+), WoFS remains experimental with constrained coverage, and broader validation in live operations is still underway.