Type 1 RFD surge (at right), in which the low-level mesocyclone is initially above the RFD. During the RFD surge, the RFD boundary moves toward the supercell’s forward flank. The RFD occlusion develops and matures, which is followed by tornado formation in the RFD occlusion. The tornado most often forms in the northeast quadrant of the RFD.
For the Rozel, Kansas EF4 tornado on May 19, 2013 (at right), a prominent cell merger started the RFD surge. The mesocyclone was located to the west of the RFD boundary (panel 1). The cell merger caused an enhanced downdraft to move southeast, creating a long pendant (panel 2). The RFD occlusion developed at the pendant’s southeast end. The tornado formed as the RFD boundary surged northeastward toward the forward flank. This created a narrow inflow channel (panel 3 and 4). 300 meter ground-relative flow is estimated based on cell movement and outflow.
