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A detailed aerial and ground survey of a long-track (50 km) F5 tornado is presented. The survey revealed that the tornado exhibited unusual nonlinear movements at two different locations. One portion of the track was associated with a pronounced sinusoidal pattern while another location was characterized by a cusplike pattern. For the first time, high-resolution dual-Doppler wind measurements can be used to evaluate mechanisms for such deviations from a linear tornado path. The analyses of data collected with Electra Doppler Radar (ELDORA) suggest that these departures are trochoidal marks produced as the tornado was revolving within the larger-scale mesocyclone. Retrieved perturbation pressures indicate that the mesocyclone departed significantly from a cyclostrophically balanced state during these deviations. The maximum vorticity associated with the mesocyclone at low levels was shown to be an unreliable indicator of the tornado's intensity.
Wakimoto et al. (Wed,) studied this question.