An investigation of the transition from multicell to supercell storms.

Abstract

Nearly 2.5 hours of dual-Doppler radar data with high temporal and spatial resolution are used to examine the evolution and morphology of a thunderstorm that evolved from a complex of small cells into a supercell storm. Individual storm cells and updrafts moved ENE, nearly with the mean wind, while the storm complex, which encompassed the individual cells, propagated toward the SSE. A storm-environment feedback mechanism of updraft-downdraft interactions, in conjuction with increasing environmental vertical wind shear and buoyancy, is deemed responsible for an increase in the size and intensity. The data support a growing consensus that a continuum of storm types, rather than a dichotomy, exists.-from Authors