VORTEX1 was the first time scientists completely researched the entire evolution of a tornado with an array of instrumentation, enabling a greater understanding of the processes involved with tornadogenesis.

[3][2] Analysis of data collected in subsequent years led to significant advancement in understanding of supercell and tornado morphology and dynamics.

[7] “An important finding from the original VORTEX experiment was that the factors responsible for causing tornadoes happen on smaller time and space scales than scientists had thought.

New advances will allow for a more detailed sampling of a storm's wind, temperature, and moisture environment, and lead to a better understanding of why tornadoes form –-and how they can be more accurately predicted,” said Stephan Nelson, NSF program director for physical and dynamic meteorology.

[10] VORTEX research helped the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide tornado warnings to residents with a lead time of 13 minutes.

[10] Joshua Wurman, president of the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) in Boulder, Colorado proposes, "if we can increase that lead time from 13 minutes to half an hour, then the average person at home could do something different.

A number of institutions and countries were involved in the US$11.9 million project, including: the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) therein, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Environment Canada, and universities across the United States and elsewhere.

The project included DOW3, DOW6, DOW7, Rapid-Scan DOW, SMART-RADARs, NOXP, UMASS-X, UMASS-W, CIRPAS and TIV 2 for their mobile radar contingent.

Howard Bluestein, a meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma said, "We will be able to distinguish between rain, hail, dust, debris, flying cows.

[11][17] Scientists met May 10 and held a class to teach the crews how to launch the tornado pods, which would have to be released within 45 seconds of notification.

[18] VORTEX2 was equipped with 12 tornado PODS, instruments mounted onto 1 meter (3.3 ft) towers that measure wind velocity (i.e. speed and direction).

[18] The team had 24 2 metres (6.6 ft) high portable Sticknets, which can be set up at various locations around tornado storm cells to measure wind fields, provide atmospheric readings, and record acoustically the hail and precipitation.

[17][19] Scientists are still seeking to refine understanding of which supercell thunderstorms that form mesocyclones will eventually produce tornadoes, and by which processes, storm-scale interactions, and within which atmospheric environments.

An alphabetical partial listing of VORTEX2 scientists and crew: Other smaller field projects include the previously mentioned SUB-VORTEX (1997–98) and VORTEX-99 (1999),[5][25] and VORTEX-Southeast (VORTEX-SE) (2016-2019).