Recent progress in the operational forecasting of summer severe weather

Summer severe weather (SSW) can strike suddlenly and unexpectedly with disastrous consequences for human activity. Considerable progress has been made in the past ten years in the operational forescating of SSW. Traditionally, SSW was defined to consist of tornadoes, strong winds, hail, lightning and heavy rain. Hazardous types of strong winds have recently been expanded to include microbursts, macrobursts and surfacing rear inflow jet damage behind mesoscale convective systems...(AU)