Vertical Wind Shear Associated with Left-Moving Supercells

Abstract

Vertical wind shear parameters are presented for 60 left-moving supercells across the United States, 53 of which produced severe hail (≥1.9 cm). Hodographs corresponding to environments of left-moving supercells have a tendency to be more linear than those of their right-moving supercell counterparts. When curvature is present in the hodographs of the left-moving supercells, it is typically confined to the lowest 0.5–1 km. Values of 0–6-km wind shear for left-moving supercells—both bulk and cumulative—are within the ranges commonly found in right-moving supercell environments, but the shear values do occur toward the lower end of the spectrum. Conversely, the absolute values of storm-relative helicity (SRH) for left-moving supercells are much smaller, on average, than what occur for right-moving supercells (although SRH values for many right-moving supercells also fall well below general guidelines for mesocyclone development). A significant fraction of the 0–3-km SRH (25%) and 0–1-km SRH (65%) for left-moving supercells is positive, owing to the shallow clockwise curvature of the hodographs. However, nearly all of the 1–3-km SRH for left-moving supercells is negative, with absolute values comparable in magnitude to those for right-moving supercells. A limited climatological analysis of vertical wind shear associated with convective environments across parts of the central United States suggests that clockwise curvature of the low-level shear vector is most common in the central/southern plains, partially explaining the preeminence of right-moving supercells in that area. In contrast, hodographs are more linear over the northern high plains, suggesting left-moving supercells may be relatively more common there. It would be beneficial to implement operational radar algorithms that can detect mesoanticyclones across the United States.