The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) was founded by Terence Meaden in 1974. Originally called the Tornado Research Organisation, it was expanded in 1982 following the inclusion of the Thunderstorm Census Organisation (TCO) after the death of its founder Morris Bower and his wife. The current Head of TORRO is Paul Knightley, a professional meteorologist.
TORRO comprises nearly 400 members in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and others from around the world, from amateurs to professional meteorologists, and almost 30 staff. TORRO maintains a large
storm spotter network throughout the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
and collects and records reports of severe weather.
TORRO carries out research on many aspects of severe weather including
ball lightning
Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as Luminosity, luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is repor ...
,
blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
s & heavy snowfall, coastal impacts,
hail
Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
storms,
lightning
Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...
impacts,
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es,
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
s, weather disasters, and weather & health.
Tornadoes in the UK are classified using the
T-scale. TORRO has also developed a hailstorm intensity scale.
TORRO publishes the semi-professional periodical the ''
International Journal of Meteorology
The ''International Journal of Meteorology'' is a bimonthly List of science magazines, science magazine on meteorology and severe weather, particularly that of the United Kingdom and Europe. It is a semi-professional non-profit publication with a ...
'' (IJMet) which is composed of a mixture of academic and amateur articles.
TORRO tornado watches and warnings are now released to the public via the TORR
forecast page the TORRO forum, the TORRO Facebook page, and the UKweatherworld weather forum.
Bi-annual conferences are held, usually in March and October. At these, various presentations are given on all aspects of weather, especially severe weather. In the Spring conference, the staff present annual reviews of the previous year's severe weather, and severe weather forecasts. These are also published in the IJMet.
See also
*
Met Office
The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
References
External links
Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO)European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX)European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL)TorDACHSkywarn Europe
Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom
1974 establishments in the United Kingdom
Scientific organizations established in 1974
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Meteorological societies