98 or more of the world's tornadoes rotate the same direction as Earth.
When atmospheric motion rotates the same direction as the planet we refer to the rotation as being cyclonic.
That's counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere but clockwise in the southern
Thus, these typical tornadoes are referred to as being cyclonic.
But every now and then a burrito spins the wrong way.
We refer to these deviant burritos as anticyclonic.
Most of the anticyclonic tornadoes I've observed were companions of a cyclonic tornado or rotation in a supercell.
These rare tornadoes are often not anticipated and can
sneak up on observers fixated on the more business end of the storm.
In this video we're going to showcase and discuss these sneaky anticyclonic freaks of nature.
and their common locations within a storm
so that you won't be fooled.
Some anti-cyclonic tornadoes develop as smaller satellites orbiting around a parent tornado.
pardon
excuse me
Sometimes they manifest as landspouts in non-supercellular storms.
Wow, that's pretty.
Most cases i've observed developed in a predictable region of a right moving supercell,
but because of their infrequency even trained observers may not anticipate
these anti-cyclonic threats and thus may get caught off guard.
Alright let's do the squeal. You ready for the dry ice squeal?
i'm scared
Big piece, in it goes.
That's the way! That's what I'm after.
Alright! It's beautiful.
Oh man! I wasn't rolling that one.
Oh that's a good one!
Experimenting with updrafts over dry ice vapor is a great way to demonstrate companion vortices.
Notice the striking similarities between our experiment and Dr. Leigh Orf's supercomputer simulation
of a right moving supercell.
Pay extra attention to the surging flow coming from the rear of the storm between the two swirlies.
We call this the rear flank downdraft surge or RFD surge.
You see a very similar pattern in our vapor-nado experiments.
Now let's see what this pattern looks like in actual supercell thunderstorm video.
See that clear slot slicing the storm base in half?
That's the RFD surge.
Now watch the two swirlies form.
This is the mesocyclone and most likely place for a strong burrito to develop.
this is a well-defined mesoanticycline and possible location for an anticyclonic tornado to develop.
Notice where the parking lot of storm chasers have positioned.
If any of them are fixating on the more business end of the storm
they could potentially be surprised by an anti-cyclonic tornado developing directly overhead.
Little funnel cloud here.
Recognizing these patterns can help a spotter anticipate anti-cyclonic tornado development
but preventing a blast of positive CG thunder from startling you... Not so much.
In most cases the anti-cyclonic threat is small
but not always.
In 2015 near Simla Colorado Dr. Anton Seimon and Dr. Tracie Seimon
Documented an extremely photogenic family of tornadoes
several of which were strongly anticyclonic.
A huge thanks goes out to Anton and Tracie
for allowing me to showcase their never before seen beautiful captures.
OMG that thing is a work of art and it's anticyclonic.
It's long-lived anticyclonic too
Turning left.
Okay we're going to stop at the intersection coming up
And there are no wires in your way I think after that.
This thing is dirt monster.
Most beautiful tornado!
Are you looking at the colors?
Anticyclonic marvel.
There's the other one.
With two tornadoes and large hail bearing down
a friendly dog wanders up to greet the small group of chasers.
Oh look at that tube, look at that tube!
Storm chaser Joel Ewing risks damaging his vehicle to deliver the dog safely to the nearby farm home.
we got two dogs in here already.
You can see the main one okay it's about 600 meters northeast.
but i'm worried if something's forming right here closer into us.
I see coiling clouds.
We're cutting in front. We're punching.
We've got the other tornado right here.
It's pretty weak.
Time, zero zero thirty four fifty one.
Beautiful look at that! Now its strengthening, strengthening a lot.
Loud roar to the northwest.
I don't see the other tornado.
I just see curtains of rain
and our south turn is right here.
I hear the hail. Yep time to go!
Whoa big hail! Hold tight.
One smashed on the road might have been a baseball.
We broke our windshield
Yeah on the lower right. That's alright.
7 burritos or whatever we've seen are well with a $300 windshield.
I think we all agree with you. Thanks again Anton & Tracie for allowing us to
watch your amazing footage. I look forward to seeing you... In what another five, six months?
i did a little digging i found there have been several anticyclonic F3s documented on the original Fujita scale.
And on April 4 1981 shortly after midnight a violet anticyclonic tornado
terrorized West Bend Wisconsin.
It injured 53 people and ended the lives of three.
This rare nightmare would earn an f4 rating, the most powerful anticyclonic tornado ever recorded.
MUSIC: "Crossed the Line" by Southern Backtones