Severe wind damage in the city of Córdoba, Spain, on March 9, 2024 linked to a possible misocyclone embedded within a cold front

On the night of March 8-9, 2024, a cold front associated with a powerful storm named Monica caused widespread rainfall and moderate to strong southwesterly winds in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The city of Córdoba experienced significant wind damage, with many sources attributing it to a tornado. Further damage was reported at a solar thermal power plant in Posadas, located 25 km southwest of Córdoba.

In a High Shear Low Cape (HSLC) convective environment, remote sensing images show an enhanced convective line with undulations within it that suggest the possible existence of misocyclones —vortices on a scale between mesocyclones and tornadoes. This pattern, sometimes seen in narrow precipitation bands on cold fronts, has been linked in various studies with the formation of wind maxima and, occasionally, tornadoes in the northern side of these vortices, particularly when coinciding with breaks in the reflectivity pattern.

Damage assesment conducted by the authors revealed two parallel paths of destruction, both running from southwest to northeast. The maximum wind intensity was estimated to have reached category IF2 (International Fujita scale), implying maximum winds around 220 km/h.

We will present a brief analysis of the meteorological situation and remote sensing products, along with a summary of the field study carried out by the authors to conclude that, while the linear nature of the damage paths initially suggests two distinct tornadic phenomena, the proximity and likely simultaneous occurrence of these two parallel trajectories support an alternative hypothesis: both trajectories may have been associated with a single, somewhat larger vortex, a misocyclone. The damage path located further south could have been caused by downdraft winds on the southern flank of this misocyclone, while the northern path could have resulted from the formation of a small tornado on its northern flank.