Storm Chasing LG 2a-d

A video “Teaser”, while students enter the classroom.

YouTube Videos

Day 2-01 Time-lapse of 2015 supercell storm chase.

(4.5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMYAPAnW9gQ

Day 2-05 Time-lapse of thunderstorm evolution

& lightning 2015 (3.75 minutes, Pecos Hank)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYubHpEMTPM
 The Turbulent Atmosphere
(Storms)

Outline for Today Prof. Roland Stull

•More Thunderstorm Fundamentals


- Supercell thunderstorms & mesocyclones

- Observing Tstorms, with satellite & radar

•Thunderstorm Hazards: 

downpours of rain &

downbursts of air

•B. Moist air – the fuel 


for storms
© by Wolf Read, used with permission
 Today’s Learning Goals (LG: 2a-e)

By the end of this period, you should be able to:

2a) list and describe the storm hazards and disaster scales
covered in this course.

2b) name and describe the characteristics and hazards of the 3

main types of supercell thunderstorm.

2c) use weather radar and satellite to identify and predict storm
characteristics.

2d) identify downbursts and gustfronts, describe how they form

and look, and what their hazards are.

2e) explain how humidity, saturation, latent heat, advection, and

adiabatic cooling affect storm energy.
 Road-map to Storm topics
Learning Goals (LG): 1-5
LG 2a
Day Hazards Fundamentals Energy
Risk & Safety Appearance & Evolution makes storms

Thunderstorm sun, radiation,

1 Lightning
basics surface heating

Rain Downpours, Supercells, mesocyclone. moisture,

2 Air Downbursts Observ.: radar, satellite condensation,
latent heating
Wall cloud, striations,
3 Tornadoes
Doppler radar

Clouds at Tstorms: heat to motion,

4 Hail
flanking line, mammatus forces, winds

Flooding, winds, waves, energy in warm

5 storm surge
Hurricanes
ocean, Coriolis
 LG 2a,b

Thunderstorm Cells - supercells

cumulonimbus (thunderstorms) are made of large cells that

evolve during 15-30 min.

most thunderstorms contain 2 or more cells, and are called

multicell thunderstorms

sometimes a very large, rotating single-cell thunderstorm

forms, called a supercell Tstorm. They can cause the most
violent tornadoes, large hail, frequent lightning, heavy rain,
strong winds. A rotating Tstorm is called a mesocyclone. Today

Supercell types: 

low precipitation , classical , high precip.
 Supercell Videos from YouTube
Three types of supercell: LG 2b

(1) low precipitation (LP), but produce lots of hail.

(2) classic, (with rainy downdraft & rain-free updraft)
(3) high precip. (HP), updraft mostly surrounded by rain.
Some are in-between, and are called “hybrid” storms.

Day2-15 LP in 2013 (show last 30 s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwWvtNWllfo

Watch on your own.

Day2-10 LP in 2012 (5 min, play fast)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HBP9TNl-Io
 Supercell Videos from YouTube
Three types of supercell: LG 2b

(1) low precipitation (LP), but produce lots of hail.

(2) classic, (with rainy downdraft & rain-free updraft)
(3) high precip. (HP), updraft mostly surrounded by rain.
Some are in-between, and are called “hybrid” storms.

Day2-20 Classic at Brisbane, Australia. Nov 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1eP5WVM5bQ

Day2-25 Classic at Booker time lapse. 3 June 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak05BQ6eNLU
 Supercell Videos from YouTube
Three types of supercell: LG 2b

(1) low precipitation (LP), but produce lots of hail.

(2) classic, (with rainy downdraft & rain-free updraft)
(3) high precip. (HP), updraft mostly surrounded by rain.
Some are in-between, and are called “hybrid” storms.

Day2-30 HP supercell in Lamar, CO timelapse. 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L60AHze111o

Watch on your own.

Day2-35 HP supercell in Texas. 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trVMTXoDPGA
Which statement is TRUE?
(A) A classic supercell is a hybrid of many different types.

(B) In a classic supercell, a curtain of rain usually

obscures features such as tornadoes.

(C) High-precipitation supercells often produce lots of

hail.

(D) You can see mesocyclone rotation by eye.

(E) The most violent tornadoes come from supercell

thunderstorms.
 Observing and Monitoring
using Remote Sensors LG 2c

Satellite



Radar

scijinks.nasa.gov
USGS
 LG 2c Recall this photo from last time.
Note the oval shape of the anvil cloud.
See the shadow under the anvil cloud.
See the lumpy region of updraft overshoot, which pin-
points the violent stem portion of the mushroom cloud.
These are clues to help identify Tstorms from satellite images.

NASA
 LG 2c

Satellite Visible Image of Tstorms

(Satellites see the top of the anvil cloud)
Minnesota

Wyoming

South Dakota

Iowa
Colorado Nebraska
Kansas
25 June 2003. UCAR / RAP
 Thunderstorms observed from Space

LG 2c

Thunderheads near Borneo, Indonesia are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 40
crew member on the International Space Station. Credit: M. Justin Wilkinson, Jacobs and Michael
Trenchard, Barrios Technology at NASA-JSC. 5 Aug 2014. NASA.
 Weather Radar Damaged
by Hurricane Irma 2017
LG 2c

NWS - Puerto Rico

 LG 2a,c Radar Image of
Thunderstorm Cells
(radar sees the precipitation inside the storm; namely,
in the up- & downdraft stem of the mushroom cloud)

Tornado
Outbreak in
Oklahoma, 3
May 1999)

from NWS
 LG 2a,c

dBZ: A
Disaster
Intensity
Scale for
Rainfall

© by Roland Stull

dBZ = radar
echo intensity
(in decibals).
 LG 2a,c

Downpours
of rain can
cause Flash
Floods

© by Roland Stull
Radar Loop of Thunderstorms

LG 2a,c

dBZ

By tracking past
movement of
Tstorm cells on
radar, we can warn
people in their
paths.
NWS
 Which
statement
is TRUE?
(A) dBZ is a disaster scale indicating the strength of
damaging winds in thunderstorms.
(B) Weather satellites give forecasts of future
thunderstorm locations.
(C) Weather radar can see the cumulus stage of
thunderstorm cells.
(D) Visible images from weather satellite allow us to see
inside the cloud to locate the most violent part of the
thunderstorm.
(E) Weather radar and satellite are remote sensors.
 Storm Hazards
LG 2a,d

Thunderstorm Hazards
• lightning
• tornado
• hail
• downpours (of rain) / local flooding today
• downbursts (of air) / gustfronts today
Hurricane Hazards
• contain thunderstorms
• storm surge / coastal flooding
• high waves
• coastal erosion
 LG 2a,d, 4a

Down-bursts & Gust Fronts (of air)

Side
view:

© by Roland Stull

• Downdraft speeds of 20 to 90 km/h.

• Horizontal wind speeds near ground of up to 250 km/h.
• Microbursts are small diameter (≈ 1 km) downbursts.
 LG 2a,d, 4a
Hazards: Down-bursts & Gust Fronts
✦ What: Downburst - cold (dense) air sinking.
✦ Why: Tstorm can create dense air where rain falls;

due to •precipitation drag & •evaporative cooling.
✦ Risks: Often invisible, but a hazard to aircraft.


✦ What: Gust front - leading edge of straight-line winds.

✦ Why: downburst air hits ground & spreads outward in straight
lines.
✦ Visible: haboob (if dry ground); arc cloud (if moist air)
✦ Risks: can blow down large trees and destroy weak structures
(mobile homes; out-buildings); 

hazard to aircraft during take-off/landing.


✦ Safety: avoid weak bldgs & trees that could fall.


Airports have sensors; flights avoid; pilots trained.
 LG 2d, 4a

Down-bursts & Gust Fronts (of air)

Top view: v i l
gust
fron An
t
straight-
line
winds
Tstorm
up & down-
draft

ground arc
cloud
© by Roland Stull
 LG 2a,d
Down-bursts & Gust Fronts (of air)

Crash of Eastern Airline Flight 66. 


Killed 112 people at JFK airport in NY, 1975.

Tstorm

2
3
X
ground Crash runway
Site © by Roland Stull
 LG 2a,d, 4a

Down-
draft

Arc Cloud

Rain Gust
Front

WeatherStock - used under license

LG 2a,d, 4a

arc cloud

WeatherStock - used under license

Arc Clouds
arc cloud along Gust
Fronts
WeatherStock - used under license
 Down-bursts & Gust Fronts
LG 2a,d, 4a

Day 2-60 Shelf cloud 2010 at beach in MI (3:27 , play 5x speed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOVwlfrKN2g

Watch on your own.

Day2-50 Gust front 2013 Brisbane, AU (1:13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwKIq1fKSM8

Day 2-55 Gust front 2014 Dover, UK (1:13)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJB05Hcjch8
 Which statement is FALSE?

(A) Downburst speeds can reach 90 km/h.

(B) Outflow winds behind the gust front can reach speeds of
250 km/h.

(C) The gust front is the leading edge of the straight-line

outflow winds.

(D) Evaporating precipitation causes the downburst, which

causes the outflow wind, which causes the gust front.

(E) The arc cloud can occur at the top of the thunderstorm,
curving around the anvil cloud.
 LG 2a,d, 4a

Another Hazard:
Haboobs
(sand storms)

NWS, Phoenix

D.Newton, wunderground.com
 Haboobs / Dust Storms LG 2a,d, 4a

Video Clips

• Day 2-65 Dust storm in Iraq (2:33, play 5x)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC2qlU8G8vw

• Day 2-75 News Report of 2011 storm AZ 


(4:45, play first third at 1.5x or 2x speed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD5I9UhbRgg

Watch on your own.

• Day 2-70 Driving into dust storm in AZ 

(9:56. Skip. Encourage students to watch on their own.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3glyRZLZAR0
 LG 2a,d

Stull vs. Downburst

cloud

virga whitehorseair.com

planetpals.com
 LG 1-5

Insights

Instead of memorizing the end effects,

if you understand the underlying
causes & processes, then you can
make predictions for new situations.
Precipitation that completely
evaporates before hitting the ground is
called …
(A) a dud.
(B) virga.
(C)dry precipitation.
(D)a haboob.
(E) a sand storm.
 LG 2e
Storm Energy
B. Moist Air – the Fuel for Storms

WeatherStock, used under license

 LG 2e

Storm Organization
Storms have special organization
and capability to:
• draw in humid air,
• then to cause it to condense, &
• release its heat into the storm,
• resulting in precipitation & violent winds

Thus, we need to look at concepts of:


1. humidity
A visible cloud has
2. saturation 10 billion cloud
3. latent heat droplets in each
cubic meter of air.
4. advection
WeatherStock, used under license
5. adiabatic cooling
 LG 2e

1. Humidity

Air = mixture of gases:

• 0 to 4% of water vapour +
• 78% (±3%) of nitrogen +
• 21% (±1%) of oxygen +
• trace gases +
• liquid water droplets

Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the

air. There are many humidity variables (i.e., many
ways to quantify humidity.)
 A Humidity Variable:
Mixing Ratio (r)
LG 2e
Mixing ratio = the
amount of water vapour
divided by
the amount of all other gases:

Examples.
(1) If you mix 2 parts water vapour and 5 parts all other gases.
Then mixing ratio is r = 2/5 = 0.4

(2) If you mix 78 parts of N2 + 21 parts of O2 + 1 part of

H2O, then mixing ratio is r = 1 / (78+21) = 1/99 = 0.011
If air contains 10 grams of water vapour each
each kilogram of air, then the mixing ratio is
roughly

(A) 10 kg/kg
(B) 1 kg/kg
(C) 0.1 kg/kg
(D) 0.01 kg/kg
(E) 0.001 kg/kg
 Saturation = Equilibrium of
2. Saturation
Evaporation – an Equilibrium
& Condensation
between Evaporation & Condensation
water sealed
molecules box
LG 2e

© by Roland Stull

• Water vapour is special -> can easily condense into liquid.

• Constant exchange of H2O molecules occurs between
adjacent vapour and liquid:
· (vapour to liquid) = condensation
· (liquid to vapour) = evaporation
 Mixing RatioSaturation
at Equilibrium is of
= Equilibrium
Evaporation & Condensation
called Saturation Mixing Ratio
• If too many water molecules in 
 water s
b
air, then excess condenses into molecules
liquid, causing air to become drier.
• If too few vapour molecules 

in air, then evaporation exceeds 

condensation, and air becomes 

moister. (but if insufficient liquid

water is available for evaporation, 

then humidity can remain below the saturation value) © by Roland Stull

• Thus, the mixing ratio tends to approach an equilibrium, called

saturation.

• For all practical purposes, saturation value is maximum

humidity that air can hold .
LG 2e
 LG 2e

Saturation Mixing Ratio (rs)

Saturation value is
increases exponentially with
important in controlling
Temperature (T) atmospheric humidity.
0.100

ted
0.090

tura
0.080
• Warmer air can hold

ersa
more water vapour at
0.070

on
equilibrium than
sup

rati
0.060
mixing ratior (kg/kg)

colder air !!!!!

satu
0.050

ted
0.040
cloudy

a
• Air that contains this
atur
0.030 uns max amount = saturated
0.020 rs
not
0.010 r cloudy • Air holding less =
0.000 unsaturated.
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature (°C)
© by Roland Stull
 Which statement is TRUE?

(A) Mixing ratio is the ratio of water vapour in the air to

the max amount of water vapour that could be held.
(B) Colder air can hold less water vapour at saturation than
warmer air.
(C) If air is saturated, then 100% of the air molecules are
water vapour.
(D) Unsaturated air contains less water vapour than the air
could hold, at any given temperature.
(E) The main component of air is water vapour.
 LG 2e

3. Adiabatic Cooling

• When air rises, it cools


(roughly 10°C/km).

• Cooler air can hold less

water as vapour
WeatherStock, used under license

• Therefore, some vapour must

condense into liquid droplets.

• But condensation releases

latent heat.
Suppose that non-cloudy air near sea level has a temperature
of 30°C and a mixing ratio of r=0.01 kgwater/kgair. If this air was
lifted to an altitude of 3 km, then the state of the air would be:
0.100
(A) 30°C and saturated 
 0.090
(i.e., cloudy) 0.080
(B) 30°C and unsaturated 
 0.070

d
(i.e., not cloudy)

rate
0.060

r (kg/kg)
0.050

satu
ated
(C) 10°C and saturated 

0.040
(i.e., cloudy)

atur
0.030

uns
(D) 10°C and unsaturated 
 0.020 cloudy
(i.e., not cloudy) 0.010
not
cloudy
(E) 0°C and saturated 
 0.000
(i.e., cloudy) -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 5
Temperature (°C)
 LG 2e

Storms strengthen when


latent heat –> sensible heat.

If the Saturation Humidity value becomes smaller

than the actual Humidity, then condensation occurs.


This condensation does 3 things:
• releases sensible heat into storms,
• reduces the humidity down to the equilibrium
(saturation) value, &
• produces or increases liquid cloud drops, which can
grow to become rain drops.
 Rainfall (= precipitation) LG 2e

Strong storms -> Heavy Raingauge

precipitation hazard

• strong radar reflectivity (large dBZ)

• heavy rainfall rate (RR),

measured by increase of
depth of water in a depth in
raingauge (units: mm/hour). 
 millimeters
5 (mm)
Not on the exam
4
• average warming rate
The average temperature change 3
∆T over time interval ∆t is :
T/ t = a • RR
2

1
where a = 0.338 K/mm (of
0
rain) for Tstorm 11 km thick. © by Roland Stull
 Which storm hazard was NOT
explained in class today?

(A) downburst
(B) gust front
(C) haboob
(D) heavy rain
(E) tornado
 The Turbulent Atmosphere
Summary of Day 2 Prof. Roland Stull

•More Tstorm Fundamentals


4. Supercell thunderstorms & mesocyclones

5. Observing Tstorms, with satellite & radar

•Downpours, Downbursts & Gust Fronts

•B. Moist air – the fuel for storms
Next Class
- Tornadoes

© by Wolf Read, used with permission