Observations of a Florida waterspout during CaPE

Abstract

A case of a waterspout that developed from a relatively small cumulus cloud is presented. This is believed to be the first time that detailed Dopper radar information on a parent cloud has ever been collected. Vertical cross sections of radar reflectivity confirmed that the waterspout formed during the growth stage of the parent cloud and dissipated when a rain shower from a descending precipitation core reached the surface. Although the waterspout was as close as 15km from the radar, a pronounced roational couplet was not detected below 1km MSL owing to the small width of the vortex. -from Authors