Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Retrieved Pressure Field and Its Influence on the Propagation of a Supercell Thunderstorm

Huaqing Cai Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Search for other papers by Huaqing Cai in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
and
Roger M. Wakimoto Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Search for other papers by Roger M. Wakimoto in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Nov 2001
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2001)129<2695:RPFAII>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
2695–2713
Restricted access

We are aware of a technical issue preventing figures and tables from showing in some newly published articles in the full-text HTML view.
While we are resolving the problem, please use the online PDF version of these articles to view figures and tables.

Abstract

An analysis of the observed propagation of the Garden City supercell storm based on data collected by an airborne Doppler radar is presented. The environmental wind profile was characterized by a straight hodograph. Wind syntheses were used to retrieve the perturbation pressure fields in order to isolate the important dynamical processes controlling storm movement. The pressure perturbations produced by the linear and nonlinear effects were comparable in magnitude. The rightward bias in storm motion was primarily a result of the forcing produced by the vertical gradients of perturbation pressure. This finding is consistent with the results based on numerical simulations. The vertical gradients of the linear perturbation pressure were important in determining storm motion early in its life cycle; subsequently, the nonlinear effects dominated. A decomposition of the nonlinear forcing into contributions from cyclostrophically balanced flow and nonlinear shear was also presented. This partitioning revealed that both the forcing produced by the mesocyclone and the horizontal shear that was baroclinically produced by the gradient of buoyancy along the flanks of the updraft were important effects to consider.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Roger M. Wakimoto, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565. Email: roger@atmos.ucla.edu

Abstract

An analysis of the observed propagation of the Garden City supercell storm based on data collected by an airborne Doppler radar is presented. The environmental wind profile was characterized by a straight hodograph. Wind syntheses were used to retrieve the perturbation pressure fields in order to isolate the important dynamical processes controlling storm movement. The pressure perturbations produced by the linear and nonlinear effects were comparable in magnitude. The rightward bias in storm motion was primarily a result of the forcing produced by the vertical gradients of perturbation pressure. This finding is consistent with the results based on numerical simulations. The vertical gradients of the linear perturbation pressure were important in determining storm motion early in its life cycle; subsequently, the nonlinear effects dominated. A decomposition of the nonlinear forcing into contributions from cyclostrophically balanced flow and nonlinear shear was also presented. This partitioning revealed that both the forcing produced by the mesocyclone and the horizontal shear that was baroclinically produced by the gradient of buoyancy along the flanks of the updraft were important effects to consider.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Roger M. Wakimoto, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565. Email: roger@atmos.ucla.edu

Save
Cover Monthly Weather Review
Monthly Weather Review

  • Atkins, N. L., M. L. Weisman, and L. J. Wicker, 1999: The influence of preexisting boundaries on supercell evolution. Mon. Wea. Rev, 127 , 2910–2927.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Barnes, S. L., 1978: Oklahoma thunderstorms on 29–30 April 1970: Part I: Morphology of a tornadic storm. Mon. Wea. Rev, 106 , 673–684.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bluestein, H. B., 1983: Surface meteorological observations in severe thunderstorms. Part II: Field experiments with TOTO. J. Climate Appl. Meteor, 22 , 919–930.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bluestein, H. B., 1999: A history of severe-storm intercept programs. Wea. Forecasting, 14 , 558–577.

  • Bonesteele, R. G., and Y. J. Lin, 1978: A study of updraft–downdraft interaction based on perturbation pressure and single-Doppler radar data. Mon. Wea. Rev, 106 , 62–68.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brandes, E. A., 1984: Relationships between radar-derived thermodynamic variables and tornadogenesis. Mon. Wea. Rev, 112 , 1033–1052.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Charba, J., and Y. Sasaki, 1971: Structure and movement of the severe thunderstorms of 3 April 1964 as revealed from radar and surface mesonetwork analysis. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 49 , 191–213.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fankhauser, J. C., 1971: Thunderstorm–environment interactions determined from aircraft and radar observations. Mon. Wea. Rev, 99 , 171–192.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fujita, T. T., 1981: Tornadoes and downbursts in the context of generalized planetary scales. J. Atmos. Sci, 38 , 1511–1534.

  • Fujita, T. T., and H. Grandoso, 1968: Split of a thunderstorm into anticyclonic and cyclonic storms and their motion as determined from numerical model experiments. J. Atmos. Sci, 25 , 416–439.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gal-Chen, T., 1978: A method for the initialization of the anelastic equations. Implications for matching models with observations. Mon. Wea. Rev, 106 , 587–606.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gal-Chen, T., and R. A. Kropfli, 1984: Buoyant and pressure perturbations derived from dual-Doppler radar observations of the planetary boundary layer: Applications for matching models with observations. J. Atmos. Sci, 41 , 3007–3020.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hane, C. E., and P. S. Ray, 1985: Pressure and buoyancy fields derived from Doppler radar data in a tornadic thunderstorm. J. Atmos. Sci, 42 , 18–35.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hane, C. E., R. B. Wilhelmson, and T. Gal-Chen, 1981: Retrieval of thermodynamic variables within deep convective clouds: Experiments in three dimensions. Mon. Wea. Rev, 109 , 564–576.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hildebrand, P. H., C. A. Walther, C. L. Frush, J. Testud, and F. Baudin, 1994: The ELDORA/ASTRAIA airborne Doppler weather radar: Goals, design, and first field tests. Proc. IEEE, 82 , 1873–1890.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hildebrand, P. H., and and Coauthors, 1996: The ELDORA/ASTRAIA airborne Doppler weather radar: High resolution observations from TOGA COARE. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 77 , 213–232.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hitschfield, W., 1960: The motion and erosion of convective storms in severe vertical wind shear. J. Meteor, 17 , 270–282.

  • Klemp, J. B., and R. B. Wilhelmson, 1978a: The simulation of three-dimensional convective storm dynamics. J. Atmos. Sci, 35 , 1070–1096.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Klemp, J. B., and R. B. Wilhelmson, 1978b: Simulations of right- and left-moving storms produced through storm splitting. J. Atmos. Sci, 35 , 1097–1110.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Klemp, J. B., and R. Rotunno, 1983: A study of the tornadic region within a supercell thunderstorm. J. Atmos. Sci, 40 , 359–377.

  • Leise, J. A., 1982: A multidimensional scale-telescoped filter and data extension package. NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL WPL-82, 19 pp. [Available from NOAA/ERL, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303.].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lemon, L. R., 1976: The flanking line, a severe thunderstorm intensification source. J. Atmos. Sci, 33 , 686–694.

  • LeMone, M. A., G. M. Barnes, J. C. Fankhauser, and L. F. Tarleton, 1988: Perturbation pressure fields measured by aircraft around the cloud-base updraft of deep convective clouds. Mon. Wea. Rev, 116 , 313–327.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • List, R., and E. P. Lozowski, 1970: Pressure perturbations and buoyancy in convective clouds. J. Atmos. Sci, 27 , 168–170.

  • Liu, C-H., R. M. Wakimoto, and F. Roux, 1997: Observations of mesoscale circulations within extratropical cyclones over the north Atlantic Ocean during ERICA. Mon. Wea. Rev, 125 , 341–364.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Marwitz, J. D., 1973: Trajectories within the weak echo regions of hailstorms. J. Appl. Meteor, 12 , 1174–1182.

  • Newton, C. W., and H. R. Newton, 1959: Dynamical interactions between large convective clouds and environment with vertical shear. J. Meteor, 16 , 483–496.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Oye, R., C. Mueller, and S. Smith, 1995: Software for radar translation, visualization, editing, and interpolation. Preprints, 27th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Vail, CO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 359–361.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ramond, D., 1978: Pressure perturbations in deep convection: An experimental study. J. Atmos. Sci, 35 , 1704–1711.

  • Rasmussen, E. N., and J. M. Straka, 1996: Mobile mesonet observations of tornadoes during VORTEX-95. Preprints, 18th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, San Francisco, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1–5.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rasmussen, E. N., J. M. Straka, R. Davies-Jones, C. A. Doswell III, F. H. Carr, M. D. Eilts, and D. R. MacGorman, 1994: Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment: VORTEX. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 75 , 995–1006.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rotunno, R., and J. B. Klemp, 1982: The influence of the shear-induced pressure gradient on thunderstorm motion. Mon. Wea. Rev, 110 , 136–151.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rotunno, R., and J. B. Klemp, 1985: On the rotation and propagation of simulated supercell thunderstorms. J. Atmos. Sci, 42 , 271–292.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rotunno, R., J. B. Klemp, and M. L. Weisman, 1988: A theory for strong, long-lived squall lines. J. Atmos. Sci, 45 , 463–485.

  • Roux, F., 1985: Retrieval of thermodynamic fields from multiple-Doppler radar data using the equations of motion and the thermodynamic equation. Mon. Wea. Rev, 113 , 2142–2157.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roux, F., 1988: The west African squall line observed on 23 June 1981 during COPT 81: Kinematics and thermodynamics of the convective region. J. Atmos. Sci, 45 , 406–426.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roux, F., and J. Sun, 1990: Single-Doppler observations of a west African squall line on 27–28 May 1981 during COPT 81: Kinematics, thermodynamics and water budget. Mon. Wea. Rev, 118 , 1826–1854.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roux, F., V. Marécal, and D. Hauser, 1993: The 12–13 January 1988 narrow cold-frontal rainband observed during MFDP/FRONTS 87. Part I: Kinematics and thermodynamics. J. Atmos. Sci, 50 , 951–974.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Schlesinger, R. E., 1980: A three-dimensional numerical model of an isolated deep thunderstorm, II. Dynamics of updraft splitting and mesovortex couplet evolution. J. Atmos. Sci, 37 , 395–420.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Straka, J. M., E. N. Rasmussen, and S. E. Frederickson, 1996: A mobile mesonet for finescale meteorological observations. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol, 13 , 921–936.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wakimoto, R. M., and C-H. Liu, 1998: The Garden City, Kansas, storm during VORTEX 95. Part II: The wall cloud and tornado. Mon. Wea. Rev, 126 , 393–408.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wakimoto, R. M., and H. Cai, 2000: Analysis of a nontornadic storm during VORTEX 95. Mon. Wea. Rev, 128 , 565–592.

  • Wakimoto, R. M., W-C. Lee, H. B. Bluestein, and P. H. Hildebrand, 1996: ELDORA observations during VORTEX 95. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 77 , 1465–1481.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wakimoto, R. M., C. Liu, and H. Cai, 1998: The Garden City, Kansas, storm during VORTEX 95. Part I: Overview of the storm's life cycle and mesocyclogenesis. Mon. Wea. Rev, 126 , 372–392.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weisman, M. L., and J. B. Klemp, 1982: The dependence of numerically simulated convective storms on vertical wind shear and buoyancy. Mon. Wea. Rev, 110 , 504–520.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weisman, M. L., and R. Rotunno, 2000: The use of vertical wind shear versus helicity in interpreting supercell dynamics. J. Atmos. Sci, 57 , 1452–1472.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weisman, M. L., M. S. Gilmore, and L. J. Wicker, 1998: The impact of convective storms on their local environment: What is an appropriate ambient sounding? Preprints, 19th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, Minneapolis, MN, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 238–241.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Winn, W. P., S. J. Hunyady, and G. D. Aulich, 1999: Pressure at the ground in a large tornado. J. Geophys. Res, 104 , 22067–22082.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 389 160 50
PDF Downloads 238 58 4