China's only tornado research center is based in the southern coastal city of Foshan. A group of young scientists there are trying to develop early warning systems to detect these sudden, destructive storms.
On June 23rd, a tornado in the east of China killed 99 people and injured more than 800.
Last year, three people were killed and more than 80 injured by another tornado in the southern city of Foshan.
Over 20 tornados have been recorded in Foshan over the past decade.
Li Liye assistant engineer of Foshan Tornado Research Center, came back from the US earlier this year to join the Foshan Tornado Research Center.
Founded three years ago, this institution remains the only one of its kind in China.
Li said studying tornadoes is a challenging job but the ambition of the eight young engineers working at the center attracted her.
"Because tornado is a very small-scaled weather system. Temporarily, it happens limited from 2-10 minutes. And it happens very suddenly. So it’s very challenging to make the right decision about the location and moment of the tornado..." she said.
Yan Lijun, director of the tornado center, says research work is vital to ensure China can accurately predict extreme weather.
"Over 1,000 tornados occur in the US every year, so their research is very advanced and they can issue a 15-minute early warning at best. China is still in the exploratory stage. But we’re striving to build an early warning system in Foshan in three years," said Yan.
To achieve that goal, a network of 204 automatic monitoring stations are already in place.
With an effective radius of about 80 kilometers, the radar only takes three and half minutes to complete a full scan.
Apart from the radar network, field research is also significant.
"Studying tornados is like crime scene investigation. You have to judge the features from all the tiny details at the disaster scene," Yan said.
If a tornado happens, Yan and his colleagues drive after it to collect first-hand materials. It's allowed them to build a detailed tornado database covering the past decade.
They’re also working with the Chinese Academy of Science and other institutions to take their research further.
With such important work ahead of the team, Yan says his greatest need right now is more skilled personnel.
