VORTEX-USA (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) is the premier 2026 field campaign focusing on the “Southeast” U.S. (Dixie Alley). Unlike the original VORTEX which focused on the Plains, this project uses mobile radars, drones, and sensors to study how tornadoes interact with the hills, trees, and high-moisture environments of the Southern states.
Tornadoes in the Southeast are more deadly because they happen more often at night, in forested terrain, and in regions with high poverty and mobile-home density. Professionals search for “VORTEX-USA 2026 Mission Reports” to see how “roughness length” (the impact of trees and hills on wind) changes tornado intensity. This data is critical for updating “building codes” and “sheltering policies” in states like Alabama and Mississippi.
A new tool for 2026 is the HailCam—a high-speed, ruggedized camera system deployed in the path of a storm. Scientists search for “HailCam diameter analysis” to get ground-truth data on hail size and shape, which is then compared to “Radar Dual-Pol” signatures. This helps meteorologists better distinguish between “harmless” small hail and “roof-destroying” large hail on their screens.
Drones are the primary way VORTEX-USA measures the “inflow” of a storm—the air being sucked into a tornado. Pros search for “VORTEX-USA drone swarm coordination” to see how multiple autonomous aircraft are flown simultaneously to create a 3D map of the wind field. This data is the “gold standard” for validating the WoFS model mentioned earlier.