RADAR REFLECTIVITY PROFILES IN THUNDERSTORMS

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Abstract
Vertical profiles of radar reflectivity have been measured in the cores of New England thunderstorms and correlated with surface weather conditions reported by an extensive network of cooperating observers. Although the reflectivity differences between hailstorms and rain-thunderstorms are slight at low altitudes, they are significant in the middle and upper portions of the storms. Tornado-producing thunderstorms reveal even more striking anomalies in high-altitude reflectivity. The maximum reflectivity of the profile, the height of the maximum, and the reflectivity ratio (maximum aloft to surface) all increase with the severity of thunderstorm weather. The experience of 233 profiles measured during two years is the basis for an estimate of hail and tornado probability as a function of reflectivity at an altitude of 30,000 ft and the profile shape parameters. These indices provided tornado warning times of one to nearly three hours in two multi-tornado squall lines. The extremely high values of r... Abstract Vertical profiles of radar reflectivity have been measured in the cores of New England thunderstorms and correlated with surface weather conditions reported by an extensive network of cooperating observers. Although the reflectivity differences between hailstorms and rain-thunderstorms are slight at low altitudes, they are significant in the middle and upper portions of the storms. Tornado-producing thunderstorms reveal even more striking anomalies in high-altitude reflectivity. The maximum reflectivity of the profile, the height of the maximum, and the reflectivity ratio (maximum aloft to surface) all increase with the severity of thunderstorm weather. The experience of 233 profiles measured during two years is the basis for an estimate of hail and tornado probability as a function of reflectivity at an altitude of 30,000 ft and the profile shape parameters. These indices provided tornado warning times of one to nearly three hours in two multi-tornado squall lines. The extremely high values of r...

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