Gustando (gust + tornado) (1991)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

A weather formation whipped through the Texas-Mexico border at Eagle  
Pass/Piedras Negras last night. It was not pleasant at all in these parts,  either.
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OED doesn't have "gustnado"? Citations from at least 1992 come from  Texas.
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_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/gustnado_gust_tornado/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/gustnado_gust_tornado/) 
...  
 
 
Gustnado (Gust + Tornado)
 
A “gustnado” is a portmanteau of the words “gust” and “tornado.” 
Gustnadoes  are short-lived, shallow mini-cylcone formations that develop on a gust 
front  along with thunderstorms or showers. 

The word “gustnado” has been cited  from at least 1991; its origin is 
unknown, but the term is popular in Texas and  other parts of _Tornado  Alley._ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/tornado_alley/)  


_National  Weather Service (Morristown, TN)_ 
(http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mrx/svrevnts/may15tornado/gustnadodef.htm)  
Gustnado definition 
A slang  term for a short-lived, ground-based, shallow, vortex that develops 
on a gust  front associated with either thunderstorms or showers. They may 
only extend to  30 to 300 feet above the ground with no apparent connection to 
the convective  cloud above. They may be accompanied by rain, but usually are ‘
wispy’, or only  visible as a debris cloud or dust whirl at or near the ground. 
Wind speeds can  reach 60 to 80 mph, resulting in significant damage, similar 
to that of a F0 or  F1 tornado. However, gustnadoes are not considered to be 
a tornado, and some  cases, it may be difficult to distinguish a gustnado from 
a tornado. Gustnadoes  are not associated with storm-scale rotation (i.e. 
mesocyclones) that is  involved with true tornadoes; they are more likely to be 
associated visually  with a shelf cloud that is found on the forward side of a 
thunderstorm.   

_Wikipedia; Gustnado_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustnado)   
A gustnado is a colloquial expression for a type of short-lived,  shallow, 
cyclonic circulation that can form in a severe thunderstorm. While it  derives 
its name from the tornado, it has little in common with tornadoes  structurally 
in terms of vertical development, or in regard to intensity,  longevity, and 
formative process (classic tornadoes are associated with  mesocyclones). 

The average gustnado lasts no more than a few seconds to  a few minutes each, 
although there can be several generations and simultaneous  swarms. Most have 
the winds of a F0 or F1 tornado, and are commonly mistaken for  tornadoes. 
However, unlike tornadoes, the rotating column of air in a gustnado  usually 
does not extend all the way to the base of the thundercloud. Gustnadoes  actually 
have more in common with whirlwinds (which include dust devils,  whirldwinds 
that form due to superheated surface layers and stretched vorticity,  most 
commonly on sunny, warm days with light winds). They are not considered  true 
tornadoes (unless they connect the surface to the ambient cloud base) by  most 
meteorologists and are not included in tornado statistics. Sometimes  referred 
to as spin-up tornadoes, that term more correctly describes the rare  tornadic 
gustnado that connects the surface to the ambient cloued base, or to  
relatively brief tornadoes associated with a mesovortex. 

The most common  setting for a gustnado is on the outflow from a severe 
thunderstorm (58+ mph  winds). They are triggered by gust fronts (hence the name) 
in thunderstorms. The  cool air in the gust front acts like a mesoscale cold 
front, it slices under the  warm air ahead of it, creating upward motions and 
turbulent interactions. The  friction from this interaction creates spinning 
columns of air, or eddys, which  can create a gustnado (to get the general idea 
of this, picture an area of  leaves swirling on a windy day, just on a much 
larger scale).   

_Google  Groups: sci.geo.meteorology_ 
(http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.meteorology/browse_thread/thread/6cb1afede1138895/a1f3d0e8ac863f88?lnk=st&q=gu
stnadoes&rnum=69&hl=en#a1f3d0e8ac863f88)  
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology 
From: _cur... at nsslsun.gcn.uoknor.edu_ (mailto:cur... at nsslsun.gcn.uoknor.edu)  
 (Brian Curran) 
Date: 11 May 91 04:49:55 GMT 
Local: Sat, May 11 1991  12:49 am 
Subject: Re: willies willies/dust devils 

“Greg Stumpf knows  gustnadoes” 

_Google  Groups: sci.geo.meteorology_ 
(http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.meteorology/browse_thread/thread/1b625a2fb02cae31/d13457c24dd1a3ec?lnk=st&q=gu
stnado&rnum=113&hl=en#d13457c24dd1a3ec)  
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology 
From: _mfos... at ALLIANT.BACKBONE.uoknor.edu_ 
(mailto:mfos... at ALLIANT.BACKBONE.uoknor.edu)   (Marc Foster) 
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 15:38:48 GMT 
Local: Mon, Jul 20  1992 11:38 am 
Subject: DFW Gustnado 

I saw my first gustnado in a  long while yesterday at the north end of 
Dallas/Fort Worth International  Airport. 

_Google  Groups: sci.geo.meteorology_ 
(http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.meteorology/browse_thread/thread/cb2995973b14b477/dfd303d9ca23c355?lnk=st&q=gu
stnadoes&rnum=68&hl=en#dfd303d9ca23c355)  
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology 
From: _stu... at nsslsun.nssl.uoknor.edu_ 
(mailto:stu... at nsslsun.nssl.uoknor.edu)   (Greg Stumpf) 
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 15:29:48 GMT 
Local: Thurs, Jul 23  1992 11:29 am 
Subject: Re: Gustnadoes 

>a definition/my best  understanding of what a gustnado is… 

>Gustnadoes form on the leading  edge of thunderstorms, where the outflow 
>boundary/gustfront is  located.  Now if you have a dust devil or some 
>similar broad low  power circulation ahead of the gust front, the 
interaction 
>of the front  with the circulation stretches the vortex and narrows the  
>diameter.  Since energy must be conserved, the angular velocity is  forced 
>to increase (spinning figure skater bringing her arms close to  the body). 
>This is the basic form of the gustnado.  They don’t  normally have winds 
>in excess of F0, and don’t derive their energy in  the same manner as a 
>tornado, and since the circulation is not pendant  to the base of the storm, 
>it is not a tornado (by definition).  The  only way they are visible from 
>the dirt raised by the winds.  

Good description.  Many argue that a gustnado *is* a tornado  beacuse it is a 
violently rotating column of air on the ground, but seem to  forget that the 
definition of a true tornado says that this column of air is  *pendant from 
the cumulonimbus cloud*.  This does not mean, however, that  you can have very 
damaging gustnadoes if conditions are met.  Also, some  gustnadoes can be 
entrained into the thunderstorm updraft, becoming tornadoes  (or hybrids). 

8 October 1992, For Worth (TX) Star-Telegram  (Google News Archives): 
“We call it a ‘gustnado.’ It was a very small-scale  tornado in northwest 
Dallas County on the leading edge of the squall line.”  

8 November 1994, Syracuse (NY) Herald-Journal, pg. C3:  
Weather experts say the rare twister was formed by a “gust front” generated  
from high winds flowing out of a nearby thunderstorm. This type of phenomena 
is  also referred to as a “gustnado.” 




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