[Alachua Co. SKYWARN Logo]
Alachua Co. SKYWARN News

U/Fla. Gust Front Funnel Cloud (Gustnado) Event
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
June 29, 2010
Back to Main SKYWARN Home Page
Check the latest changes to this web page
About Alachua County SKYWARN
How to become a certified SKYWARN spotter
When's the next spotter training class?
Our current roster of spotters
Our spotter registration form
Some spotting/chasing-related educational links]
Other SKYWARN-related links
A.C. SKYWARN Standard Operating Procedures Manual
Index To SKYWARN-related Web Pages on the Internet
Weather-related mailing lists
Some local weather-related photography
Todd Sherman's Weather Resources Page
A form for contacting us
...or you can send us E-mail
Some local spotter pets (mascots)

[ANIM: NOAA/NWS-JAX Wx Radio Page]

One of the best ways to know when hazardous weather is heading your way, during day or night, while you're awake or asleep, is with a NOAA Weather Radio. Click on the above icon to learn more about it. It could save your life.


Internet services provided for free by

[ICON: Alachua County FreeNet]


Alachua County
[ANIM: SKYWARN Pog]
SKYWARN

[ANIM: Vid-Cam]
Watching the weather!



Gust Front Funnel Cloud (Gustnado) - June 29, 2010

Date/Time: June 29, 2010, 5:44pm ET
Location: Gainesville, FL
Submitted By: Dr. Steven A. Robicsek, MD, PhD

Photo by Dr. Steven A Robicsek, MD, PhD. Taken June 29, 2010 at 5:44pm, from atop the Seagle Building on University Avenue, looking west at the Ben Hill Griffith Stadium.

A gustnado is not actually a "tornado", but something more like a large dust devil. If you remember your spotter training, a true funnel cloud "hangs pendant from a wall cloud." Gustnadoes are actually not part of or connected to the cloud base.

From the New World Encyclopedia...

"A gustnado (gust front tornado) is a small, vertical swirl associated with a gust front or downburst. Because they are technically not associated with the cloud base, there is some debate as to whether or not gustnadoes are actually tornadoes. They are formed when fast moving cold, dry outflow air from a thunderstorm is blown through a mass of stationary, warm, moist air near the outflow boundary, resulting in a "rolling" effect (often exemplified through a roll cloud). If low level wind shear is strong enough, the rotation can be turned horizontally (or diagonally) and make contact with the ground. The result is a gustnado. They usually cause small areas of heavier rotational wind damage among areas of straight-line wind damage. It is also worth noting that since they are absent of any Coriolis influence from a mesocyclone, they seem to be alternately cyclonic and anticyclonic without preference."

This is truly an amazing shot. It's difficult enough to catch any KIND of a funnel here in Alachua County; but to catch one placed perfectly right next to the stadium like this is sure to destine this particular photo for some small amount of fame in the least. Congratulations to Steve on nailing this one! This is a great shot!

I've talked to Bill Quinlan, TV-20 Meteorologist, and he advises that in talking with the NWS they thought they were seeing a convergence of two outflow boundaries in the vicinity. Bill said that he was looking at the radar when this was actually happening and he said that this funnel occured at the very outside edge of the storm, where the outflow/gust front was.

We're not exactly sure just WHERE the funnel is actually touching down...behind the O'Connell Center?...over Lake Alice? It is obviously picking up a lot of dust. We know that the point of photography is at the Seagle Building. And the funnel is located between the southern edge of the west wall of the stadium and the south end zone score board (the building with the antennas on top of it). This narrows things down a bit. But now we need someone at ground level from that area who actually saw it so that they can point to us a different specific direction and this will allow us to accurately pinpoint exactly where the event actually occured. So if there's anyone who lives in any of the dorms in that vicinity who actually saw this, please do contact us so that we can try to narrow this down more.

This photograph demonstrates perfectly how there are things out there which can LOOK like a funnel cloud or a tornado, but which actually are not. This is an excellent "look-a-like", and I've been hunting for these kinds of photographs for a while.

(This may well be the first-ever photograph of a gust front funnel ever taken in Alachua County. ...And I think we're going to at least so say so herein - until such time as someone comes along and proves otherwise to us, anyway...which we actually encourage. :O) )

Note that while there was notification and some discussion between the TV-20 meteorologist and NWS-JAX, this is not technically considered a "severe weather" type of event. Thus, this was not noted in the Local Storm Reports database. So our record here is probably the only record that it occurred.


Text Products Issued:

Satellite Imagery:

RADAR Imagery:

(For a quick general description of the various radar products and each of their uses, see NCDC Radar Products.)

Administrative 'Yet To Do':

  • Obtain additional photography for better idea of movement and structure, and positioning
  • Obtain satellite imagery
  • Obtain AFPs, ZFPs, HWOs, and LSRs for the day, if any


Alachua County SKYWARN
U/F Gust Front Funnel Cloud (Gustnado) Event
Gainesville, Alachua Co., Fla.
E-mail: admin@alachuaskywarn.org
Created: June 30, 2010.
Last updated: April 21, 2012.

Page Copyright © 2010- by Alachua County SKYWARN.
All Rights Reserved.

All photos and videos on this page are Copyright © 2010-2012
by their respective owners and are used herein by permission.
All Rights Reserved.


Go Back To Top of Page[ Top of Page ]

sitemap

weebly analytics