For Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

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1 – Wow. Central Michigan University meteorologist Leigh Orf has created a spectacular 3-D simulation of a tornado and the supercell thunderstorm that spawned it.

The monster storm visualization was presented recently at the 27th Conference on Severe Local Storms in Madison, Wisconsin.

Determining which storms will generate monster tornadoes remains a challenge for weather forecasters. The goal of the research is to help meteorologists better understand the mechanics of devastating storms, and provide earlier warnings to people in the storm’s path. The current average lead time for tornado warnings is 13 minutes.

The simulated storm features winds exceeding 300 mph, remains on the ground for 65 miles, was “grown” in the same environment as an actual storm that produced a long-track EF5 tornado in Oklahoma on May 24, 2011.

When CMU researchers examined the inner structure of the simulated thunderstorm, they discovered storm-generated cooled air that had never been seen in previous simulations.

As far as CMU researchers know, this is first time a supercell producing a long-track EF5 tornado has ever been simulated.

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2 – Some sweet mountain bike trails are being created in Bay City.

Michigan Sugar Trails is transforming 26 acres of vacant land into the community’s first trails for mountain bikes and outdoor activity, according to the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy.

The Conservancy has partnered with the Michigan Sugar Co., who owns this property, to make the project a reality. The trails will be located on the Middlegrounds Island in the Saginaw River. These will be natural surface, single-track trails.

Michigan Sugar Trails is a part of the Conservancy’s Outdoor Urban Recreation Bay City Project.

The Conservancy will be hosting a volunteer event at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, in cooperation with Ray’s Bike Shop, to clean trash and debris from the site.

You can find out more on Facebook by searching for the Michigan Sugar Trails Clean-Up event.
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