Interior characteristics at mid-levels of thunderstorms in the southeastern United StatesData characterizing the vertical wind structure and hydrometeors within cumulonimbus clouds in the southeastern United States were collected by the armored T-28 aircraft during the 1986 Cooperative Huntsville Meteorological Experiment (COHMEX). Data analysis concentrated on the hydrometeor character and development, as well as the general microphysical and kinematic structure of the clouds penetrated. The high reflectivities which sometimes exceeded the usual 55 dBz limit set for the T-28, are not necessarily related to hail in the COHMEX storms. Instead, large numbers of millimeter-size particles were found, while the hail infrequently encountered was generally small. The fact that the larger hydrometeors were usually found in narrow and weak updrafts that appeared to be well mixed suggests that a coalescence mechanism was active in many of the storms. The depth of warm cloud (typically about 3.5 km) present in these storms apparently allows ample time for particles to reach the observed millimeter sizes. The presence of cloud droplets in the largest sizes measured supports this mechanism. Ice processes play a role in the precipitation, but hail was unable to grow very large in these storms probably because the high concentrations of observed growth centers suggest a natural beneficial competition process.
Document ID
19890009701
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Musil, Dennis J. (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, SD, United States)
Smith, Paul L. (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, SD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Deutscher Wetterdienst, Annals from the German Meteorological Society. No. 25: 10th International Cloud Physics Conference Preprints, Volume 2