Height Pressure and Height Temperature and Height Height Contours Height Questions Vorticity Planetary Vorticity Relative Vorticity Absolute Vorticity Maxes and Mins Convergence and Divergence Advection Vorticity Questions Using the Upper Left Panel Final Questions

Vorticity Image courtesy of the St. Louis Science Center Figure 1 Vorticity is the second variable plotted on the upper left panel of the model output. It may be a funny name, but this is a very important tool in forecasting. In order to understand it, let's start with a simple definition: Vorticity: the amount of spin or rotation an object has about a local vertical axis. The faster it spins, the greater the vorticity. Everything that spins or rotates has vorticity. This includes tornadoes, hurricanes, and the earth. Air also rotates around highs and lows, so that also has vorticity. There are several different types of vorticity that need to be understood.