Supercell thunderstorms - thunderstorms with a deep, persistent, rotating updraft, or mesocyclone - are often the most severe of any form of thunderstorm and have the potential to cause the greatest damage. While it is the least common type of thunderstorm, it is necessary to understand the spatial and temporal variability of supercells as well as the ratio of supercells to non-supercells in order to better understand their existence and help protect life and property affected by these destructive storms. Since they are most commonly observed in the Great Plains, a climatology will be completed for the area, restricted by the radar data currently used by the Thunderstorm Observation by Radar (ThOR) algorithm.
In addition to the use of the ThOR algorithm will be the use of the Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm (MDA) which can detect these mesocyclones and will then be attributed to the thunderstorm tracks made by the ThOR algorithm. The ratio of supercells can then be found and a climatology can be created.