METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY
Imagine a large circular cage. Inside this cage is a huge bear. The term bear's cage is used
to describe the precipitation that wraps around a mesocyclone. Within the mesocyclone a
tornado can occur. The cage is the curtain of heavy precipitation that wraps around
the rotating
updraft. If a bear is present it will be a tornado. When a storm
chaser goes into the bear's cage they risk being attacked by the tornado. It is extremely
dangerous to get this close to the tornado. When precipitation wraps around the rotating updraft
the tornado is not visible unless the
storm chaser is very near the tornado or the
rain curtain has not completely wrapped around the updraft. Rain not completely
wrapping around will produce a clear area to look inside the bear's cage from a distance. When
tornadoes occur with
(HP) High Precipitation supercells the tornadoes can become rain wrapped and
difficult to observe in the field. Many storm deaths occur from not being able to see the
tornado coming until it is too late. There could be a bear lurking on the other side of
that rain curtain.
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