Raleigh, N.C. — Every week on WRAL.com, Web Weather Wednesday will be taking you beyond the forecast, digging into the whys and hows of our wild Carolina weather. We'll answer your questions and introduce you to tools and experts that help explain the world of weather.

On this week’s show, Dr. Matthew Brown Parker answers questions about tornadoes and storm chasing.

Parker is the faculty advisor for the Convective Storms research group, a part of The Mesoscale Nexus in Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University.

He is also involved with the VORTEX2 field project (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes, 2009-10).

“VORTEX2 is by far the largest and most ambitious effort ever made to understand tornadoes,” according to the Web site. “We expect over 100 scientists and crew in up to 40 science and support vehicles to participate in this unique, fully nomadic, field program in May/June 2009-10.”

Parker and the VORTEX team roamed from state to state following severe weather outbreaks through the Plains during the month of May.