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Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting pp 331–358Cite as

Characteristics of Isolated Convective Storms

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Abstract

Convective storms exist under a wide variety of conditions and evolve in an equally wide variety of ways. As the understanding of convective phenomena has increased, so has appreciation of their complexity. Storm behavior is inherently dependent on the environment in which the storm grows, including thermodynamic stability, vertical wind profiles, and mesoscale forcing influences. To the extent that the important prestorm conditions can be identified (through rawinsonde ascents, surface observations, satellites, vertical profilers, etc.), current knowledge provides valuable guidance on how convection will evolve in a given environment. For example, inferences can be made about storm motion, longevity, and potential severity. Because of the complexity of the problem, however, the knowledge of storm dynamics to date is most applicable to relatively isolated convective events, i.e., individual thunderstorm cells, small groups of cells, or some very simple squall lines. To the extent that larger scale systems such as Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs) are made up of individual convective cells, this knowledge of the properties of isolated convection is still very useful. But as interactions among cells, along with mesoscale and synoptic-scale influences, become important, any inferences regarding storm behavior are made with less certainty.

Keywords

  • Wind Shear
  • Vertical Wind Shear
  • Squall Line
  • Convective Storm
  • American Meteorological Society

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors
  1. Morris L. Weisman
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  2. Joseph B. Klemp
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA/ERL National Severe Storms Laboratory, 73069, Norman, OK, USA

    Peter S. Ray

  2. Dept. of Meteorology and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, Florida State University, 32306, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Peter S. Ray

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© 1986 American Meteorological Society

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Weisman, M.L., Klemp, J.B. (1986). Characteristics of Isolated Convective Storms. In: Ray, P.S. (eds) Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-935704-20-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-935704-20-1_15

  • Publisher Name: American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-935704-20-1

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