Professor Doug Dokken (Mathematics, University of St. Thomas) and his colleagues Professor Kurt Scholz (Mathematics, University of St. Thomas) and Thomas Hultquist (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) are working towards a new method of forecasting tornadoes, one that would give authorities the ability to accurately predict when a tornado is likely to form under certain conditions. This will allow them to warn those in the storm area to seek shelter. Using weather-modeling tools, the researchers are analyzing past tornadoes to better understand the processes that cause them. This image is a computer simulation showing counter-rotating loops of vorticity (hairpins) being lifted up along a gust front of a simulated supercell storm. An article about this research is in MSI's Annual Research Highlights 2011.