National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Tracking Weekend Storm Impacts

A storm and trailing cold front will continue to slowly move through the Gulf Coast and Southeast U.S. through this weekend with widespread rain showers and isolated thunderstorms. A fast-moving clipper storm may bring several inches of snow to the north-central Plains, Midwest, eastern Great Lakes, and Northeast regions this weekend. Read More >

Automatically generated image showing areas of energy helicity index.

 

Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of energy helicity index. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of energy helicity index. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of energy helicity index.
Hour - 1 Hour - 2 Hour -3

4 Panel Display | Animated Loop

EHI 

The Energy Helicity Index (EHI) is a number which represents the combination of instability and storm relative helicity.  Our calculation uses mixed layer CAPE (surface to 3000ft average parcel) and 0-3 km storm relative helicity.  Values greater than 2 or 3 have been correlated to cyclonic supercells with increased tornadic potential.  Negative values are indicative of an environment favorable for anti-cyclonic (left moving) supercells, but tornadoes associated with anti-cyclonic supercells are extremely rare.

Back to Convective Parameters Home