The effect of small-scale moisture variability on thunderstorm initiation

Abstract

Observations during the Convection and Precipitation/Electrification (CaPE) project illustrate that horizontal convective rolls are capable of providing sufficient forcing to initiate free moist convection. Rolls occurred on the majority of days during CaPE but on only some of those days were they able to trigger thunderstorms. This study was undertaken to ascertain the difference between the two types of roll days: the storm days and the no-storm days. All obvious sounding parameters were examined: stability parameters, midlevel moisture, and vertical wind shear. None of them showed a difference between the storm and no-storm days. This is not surprising in light of recent work showing that soundings within rolls are not representative of the environmental stability unless they happen to be launched into roll updraft branches. This is due to the upward transport of warm, moist air in the roll updraft regions atop which cloud streets and sometimes thunderstorms form. Numerous other parameters examined were also fruitless in identifying any difference between the days. These included surface station measurements, cell motion relative to roll updraft locations, surface topography, and roll circulation strength and depth. The only useful predictor was obtained by modifying the soundings using aircraft data as they were flying across the rolls and sampling moisture contained within the roll updraft branches. Using these roll updraft moisture measurements to recalculate sounding stability parameters provided an effective means of predicting thunderstorm formation.