Vertical Velocities in a Thunderstorm Gust Front and Outflow

Abstract

Abstract Continuous vertically pointing measurements of a thunderstorm outflow, including its gust front, were obtained with a Doppler radar near New Salem, North Dakota. The measurements provide a high-resolution depiction of the vertical structure of reflectivity and vertical velocity within the gust front, the outflow, and the parent storm. Earlier gust front remote sensing studies have used Doppler observations obtained with low-elevation-angle scans to accurately measure the horizontal flow pattern from which vertical velocities were subsequently estimated by integrating the continuity equation. In contrast, the New Salem case provides direct, rather than derived, Doppler measurement of vertical velocities with better vertical resolution and vastly superior temporal resolution. The gust front’s vertical structure is in general agreement with earlier observations and numerical simulations, except that the transition from strong upward to strong downward motion was more abrupt. The maximum updraft, of ...