​​​Jon Davies     Meteorology & Severe Weather Research

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Papers & Publications ​

Informal publications:

Davies, J., 1990:  Midget supercell spawns tornadoes.  Weatherwise, October 1990, 260-261. (These were some of the first color photos ever taken of a tornadic mini-supercell associated with a cold core mid-level low pressure system.)   See this link for a more technical paper with additional photos.

Inglish, H., editor, 1990:  Year of the Storms - the Destructive Kansas Weather of 1990.  Hearth Publishing, Hillsboro, Kansas. (I was technical advisor and contributed photos for this excellent book, which included an overview of the F5 Hesston tornado.)

Davies, J., and C. White, 1991:  The tornado outbreak of April 26.  In the book Tornado: Terror and Survival - The Andover Tornado April 26, 1991.  H. Inglish, editor.  Counseling Center of Butler County, Andover, Kansas.  (This comprehensive book was about the F5 Andover tornado.)

Davies, J., 1992:  April 28, 1991 tornado-producing mini-supercells, Storm Track, January 1993.   See this link for additional discussion and photos.

Davies, J., 1993:  Comments concerning my experiences on 5/5/93 in southwest Kansas.  Article and opinion submitted to Storm Track in 1993, but not published.  (This article foreshadows the chaser crowding problems and friction with law enforcement that has become an increasing issue in the years since.)

Davies, J., 1995:  A look at the energy-helicity index, Storm Track, May 1995.

Davies, J., 2007:  Storm Chasers! On the Trail of Twisters.   Farcountry Publishing, Helena, Montana.  (This kids book in full color is excellent for middle school and late grade school readers wanting to learn more about tornadoes and storm chasing, with up-to-date cutting edge information.)


Technical research in peer-reviewed journals & publications:

Davies, J. M., and R. H. Johns, 1993.  Some wind and instability parameters associated with strong and violent tornadoes.  Part 1. Wind shear and helicity.   The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards, Geophys. Monogr., No. 79, Amer. Geophys. Union, 573-582.

Johns, R. H., J. M. Davies, and P. W. Leftwich, 1993:  Some wind and instability parameters associated with strong and violent tornadoes.  Part 2. Variations in the combinations of wind and instability parameters.  The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards, Geophys. Monogr., No. 79, Amer. Geophys. Union, 583-590.

Davies, J. M., C. A. Doswell  III, D. W. Burgess, and J. F. Weaver, 1994:  Some noteworthy aspects of the Hesston, Kansas, tornado family of 13 March 1990.   Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 75, 1007-1017.

Davies, J. M., 2004:  Estimations of CIN and LFC associated with tornadic and nontornadic supercells. Wea. Forecasting, 19, 714-726.

Caruso, J. M., and J. M. Davies, 2005:  Tornadoes in non-mesocyclone environments with pre-exisitng vertical vorticity along convergence boundaries.  NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology, June 2005.

Davies, J. M., 2006:  Tornadoes in environments with small helicity and/or high LCL heights. Wea. Forecasting, 21, 579–594.

Davies, J. M., 2006:  Tornadoes with cold core 500-mb lows. Wea. Forecasting, 21, 1051–1062.

Umscheid, M. E., J. P. Monteverdi, and J. M. Davies, 2006:   Photographs and analysis of an unusually large and long-lived firewhirl.  Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology, vol. 1, no. 2.

Kellenbenz, D. J., T. J. Grafenauer, and J. M. Davies, 2007:  The North Dakota tornadic supercells of 18 July 2004: issues concerning high LCL heights and evapotranspiration.  Wea. Forecasting, 22, 1200–1213.

Davies, J. M., and A. Fischer, 2009:  Environmental characteristics associated with nighttime tornadoes.  NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology, July 2009.

Fischer, A., and J. M. Davies, 2009:  Significant nighttime tornadoes in the plains associated with relatively stable low-level conditions.   NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology, July 2009.


Technical research in AMS conference preprint publications:

Davies, J. M. 1989: On the use of shear magnitudes and hodographs in forecasting.   Preprints, 12th Conf. Wea. Analysis & Forecasting, Monterey, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 219-224.

Johns, R. H., J. M. Davies, and P. W. Leftwich, 1993:  An examination of the relationship of 0-2 km AGL "positive" wind shear to potential buoyant energy in strong and violent tornado situations.  Preprints, 16th Conf. Severe Local Storms, Kananaskis Park, Alberta, Canada, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 593-598.

Davies, J. M., 1993:  Hourly helicity, instability, & EHI in forecasting supercell tornadoes.  Preprints, 17th Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 107-111.  (This is a good introductory paper about the Energy-Helicity Index; see also this link for a more informal discussion.)

Davies, J. M., 1993:  Small tornadic supercells in the central plains.  Preprints, 17th Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 305-309.

Davies, J. M., 1996:  Deep layer shear as a refinement to CAPE & low-level shear in tornado forecasting.  Preprints, 18th Conf. Severe Local Storms, San Francisco, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 698-702.

Davies, J. M., 1998:  On supercell motion in weaker wind environments.   Preprints, 19th Conf. Severe Local Storms, Minneapolis, MN, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 685-688.

Hodanish, S., and J. Davies, 2002:  The 29 May 2001 Lamar, Colorado tornadic event.  Preprints, 21st Conf. Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 575-578.

Davies, J. M., and J. A. Hart, 2002:  Mesoscale environment factors in the D.C. area tornado event of 24 September 2001. Preprints, 21st Conf. Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 551-554.

Davies, J. M., 2002:  On low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with tornadic and non-tornadic supercells.   Preprints, 21st Conf. Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 603-606.

Davies, J. M. 2002:  Significant tornadoes in environments with relatively weak shear.  Preprints, 21st Conf. Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 651-654.

Davies, J. M., and J. L. Guyer 2004:  A preliminary climatology of tornado events with closed cold core 500 mb lows in the central and eastern United States.   Preprints CD, 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms, Hyannis, MA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper 7B.4.

Pietrycha, A. E., J. M. Davies, M. Ratzer, and P. Merzlock, 2004:  Tornadoes in a deceptively small CAPE environment: The 20 April 2004 outbreak in Illinois and Indiana.  Preprints CD, 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms, Hyannis, MA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper P1.3.

Davies, J. M. 2006:  RUC soundings with cool season tornadoes in "small" CAPE settings & the 6 November 2005 Evansville, Indiana tornado.  Preprints, 23rd Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper 4.3.

Davies, J. M. 2006:  Hurricane and tropical cyclone tornado environments from RUC proximity soundings.  Preprints, 23rd Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper P8.1.

Davies, J. M. 2006:  Total CAPE, low-level CAPE, and LFC in significant tornado events with relatively high LCL heights.  Preprints, 23rd Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper P1.3.

Davies, J. M. 2008:  Three strong tornado events in 2008 associated with boundary intersections and narrow instability axes near 700-mb lows.  Preprints, 23rd Conf. Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., paper P3.14.