VORTEX2 National Press Release issued

VORTEX2 National Press Release issued

NOAA issued a press release yesterday announcing VORTEX2, the largest and most ambitious project in history to study tornadoes. The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment2 (VORTEX2 or V2) will be held from May 10 through June 13 in the central United States.

V2 will involve more than 50 scientists and 40 research vehicles, including 10 mobile radars, to collect intensive data sets exploring the origins, structure, and evolution of tornadoes. Research results are expected to increase the accuracy and timeliness of tornado forecasts and warnings.

NSSL has launched a VORTEX2 website to reach out to the media and general public at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/vortex2. Other sites include the primary scientific V2 site: http://www.vortex2.org, and another at http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/vortex2/.

To reach a broader audience, NSSL has created social networking pages on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube. The VORTEX2 Facebook page has 746 followers after a month in existence. Statistics show 71% of the “fans” are male, and 72% are males and females between the ages of 18 and 34. There are links to the Facebook and Twitter pages on the NSSL VORTEX2 website.

There will be opportunities for the media to ride along in an NSSL VORTEX2 Media Vehicle to observe project operations in the field. Participants will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, and will also have the chance to interview scientists during down-time.

A VORTEX2 Media Day will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, May 8 at the National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd., in Norman, Okla. Interested media will have the opportunity to tour VORTEX2 research vehicles and interview VORTEX2 scientists and teams.

Background: The National Science Foundation and NOAA are funding the program bringing together collaborators from around the world.

Significance: Understanding how and why tornadoes form will lead to improved forecasts and warnings of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, saving lives and property.

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/pages/VORTEX2/57534205998
https://twitter.com/vortex2nssl

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