News Particle Physics

Cosmic rays could help reveal how tornadoes form

Muons could gauge pressure changes caused by twister-generating supercell thunderstorms

Dark storm clouds hover over a field as a large tornado touches down.

Measuring conditions within supercell thunderstorms and their tornadoes (pictured) is a challenge. Subatomic particles called muons could help reveal pressure changes within storms.

Ryan McGinnis/Moment/Getty Images Plus

By Emily Conover

Supercell thunderstorms are known for their devastatingly gnarly tornadoes, but exactly how the twisters form is poorly understood. A new study suggests that scientists could glean hints with a little help from the cosmos.

Muons, subatomic particles that are like heavy versions of electrons, could reveal the atmospheric pressure within a thunderstorm and resulting tornado, researchers report in a paper accepted in Physical Review D.