Equivalent blackbody temperature of the top of a severe storm

An RB-57F high-altitude aircraft equipped with Wilde RC-8 cameras and an infrared spectrometer was used in the investigations. A storm was overflown over Graham, Texas, on April 29, 1970. In the experiment, the average radiometric temperature was determined to be very near the environmental temperature near the cloud tops. However, hot and cold regions in and near the updrafts and downdrafts were found to be significantly out of equilibrium. It is recommended that caution should be exercised in determining cloud top altitude from equivalent blackbody temperature.