During the last several decades, non-synoptic wind systems, e.g., tornadoes, gust fronts and microbursts, have caused major damage around the world. They are different from large-scale synoptic wind systems which are better understood. As opposed to the synoptic winds, the non-synoptic ones are localized in both space and time, three dimensional in nature while having similar intensities. The Oxford Handbook of Non-Synoptic Wind Storms provides the current state of knowledge of these wind systems and their impacts on the natural and built environment, as well as implications on risk analysis and insurance policies, engineering guidelines, and socioeconomics.
Ahsan Kareem, SimCenter co-PI and Robert Moran Professor of Engineering and director of the NatHaz (Natural Hazards) Laboratory at University of Notre Dame, is co-editor and contributor to the Handbook. He notes that non-synoptic winds are mostly tornadoes or related to thunderstorms, and knowledge about these systems continues to develop. This Handbook provides the opportunity to inform the natural hazards community and help engineers design accordingly.