Will a Worm Turn? Observations of Coherent Surface-Layer Vertical Vorticity in Supercell Inflow

Dr. Joshua G. Gebauer

Research Scientist

Dr. Tyler M. Bell

Assistant Professor

Dr. Tyler Bell is an Assistant Professor in the School of Meteorology and School of Aviation at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Bell earned his B.S. (2016), M.S. (2018), and Ph.D. (2021) in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to joining the faculty in Fall 2025, he served as a Research Scientist at the Cooperative Institute for High-Impact Weather Research and Operations from 2020 to 2025.

Dr. Elizabeth N. Smith

Research Meteorologist

Elizabeth joined NSSL as a research meteorologist in January 2020, where she focuses on boundary-layer processes relevant to near- and pre-storm environments and convection initiation.

Robby Frost

M.S. Student

I am a first year master’s student with the OU School of Meteorology and Advanced Radar Research Center. My research uses mobile doppler lidar and numerical simulations to investigate how turbulent coherent structures may influence tornadogenesis. We work with Metro Weather to collect observations of the atmospheric boundary layer, supercells, and tornadoes. I also work with large eddy simulations to further investigate the parameter space of near surface vorticity in the convective boundary layer to better understand interactions between the PBL and convection.