Download PowerPoint Presentation - Tornadic thunderstorm Dodge City

Tornadic thunderstorm Dodge
City, Kansas May 7, 2002
• Large cumulonimbus
anvil stretches from
Missouri into eastern
Kansas
• Cumulonimbus anvil
seen in central &
southeast Kansas
• Cumulonimbus anvil
seen in west central
Texas
Updrafts indicate cloud formation
• Clouds move in
from the northwest
• Cumuluscongestus
clouds form in parts
of Kansas and
Oklahoma
Trough moves in from the west
• Pool of cold air
associated with
closed low in
Washington
• 40-50 knot wind
seen over Kansas
and Oklahoma
• Deep layer shear
over Kansas and
Oklahoma favorable
Trough propagates south eastward
• Trough axis extends
from Idaho through
parts of Nevada and
California
• 45-50 knots over
Oklahoma and
Kansas indicate
supercellular shear
Explosive cape in Norman, OK
• Veering of the winds
indicate warm
advection from surface
to 500 mb
• Shear vector in
hodograph veers with
height
• Hodograph indicates
splitting supercells
where left mover is
suppressed
Hodograph at Topeka, KS
• Strong veering of the
winds from surface to
500 mb indicates warm
advection
• Shear vector on the
hodograph veers with
height
• Right mover of splitting
supercells explode
Radar for Oklahoma & Kansas
• Thunderstorm splits
in southeastern
Kansas
• Right mover
intensifies
• Left mover slightly
weakens
• Thunderstorm in
central Kansas
weakens slightly
More radar for Oklahoma & Kansas
• Thunderstorm
explodes in
southeastern
Oklahoma
• Another exploding
thunderstorm in
central Oklahoma
• Deep red indicates
heavy downpour of
rain
Subjective analysis of the surface
• East of dryline, dark
green indicates
dewpoints > 70 deg
C
• Low pressure in
Texas panhandle
where a dryline,
warm front, and
stationary front
extend from