Using Doppler weather radars and damage clues on the ground, the team studied mesocyclones, downbursts and gust fronts.

Field offices of the National Weather Service informed the project on "significant" tornadoes and downbursts, and helped complete damage surveys.

Fujita suspected that localized downdrafts, later called microbursts, were responsible for damage on the ground and were involved in some airplane crashes, such as the June 24, 1975 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, which crashed during landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 113 and injuring the other 11 on board.

[7] Data obtained during the whole project permitted to describe the three-dimensional motion of the air in thunderstorms and their structure as different types of systems, such as single cells, multi-cells, and bow echoes, but including others as well.

Some of these include the JAWS (Joint Airport and Weather Studies) in 1982, the MIST (Microburst and Severe Thunderstorm Experiment) in 1986 led by Fujita,[7] and the VORTEX projects.