IMPRESSIVE SUPERCELL OBSERVED OVER SOUTHERN GERMANY EARLIER TODAY! (credit: Lucas Adler via Meteo Europe)

DISCUSSION: As a strengthening low-pressure system continued making its way across Western-Central Europe over the last couple of days, strong warm-air advection and strong diurnal heating (i.e., consistently above-average temperatures) led to the development of intense thunderstorms.  Some of these thunderstorms encountered enhanced vertical wind shear such as this particular storm which moved through Stuttgart, Germany earlier today.  As a result of the locally-strong vertical wind shear, these stronger storms responded through the production on rotation within the core of the storm; leading to a rotating updraft and subsequent development of a formidable mesocyclone (i.e., the cyclonically-rotating air-mass found within a supercell thunderstorm throughout the lower-to-middle levels of the thunderstorm) and associated locally-confined hail/wind damage!  To read about other high-impact weather content from across Europe, be sure to click here!