Abstract
Previous authors have reported significant correlations between the horizontal extent of convective showers or storms and the volume of rain they produce. This paper employs that idea to develop a simplified method for estimating convective rainfall by considering only the horizontal extent and duration of the precipitation. The present analysis is based on rain gage and radar data from an area in western North Dakota. A synoptic adjustment is applied to the radar rain volume estimates. A quantity called the integrated rainfall coverage can be calculated from either gage or radar data and is found to be well correlated with the rain volumes. The maximum echo area during any one scan in one hour seems to be the hourly radar measurement best correlated with the rain volumes. This limited study suggests that the accuracy of the simplified method approaches that of methods using radar reflectivity data and may have operational value in some special situations.
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