A quasi-objective method for discrimination of supercell archetypes using the WSR-88D

Despite its long-surmised importance regarding storm severity, a storm’s precipitation distribution and intensity is generally assessed subjectively by physical observers. In this paper, a method for systematically evaluating supercell precipitation type based on the spatial relationship between the radar inferred precipitation core and the supercell updraft are described. Analysis of a sample of supercells indicates a potential for quasi-objective discrimination between high precipitation and other supercell archetypes based o the updraft-relative position of the rain-rate centroid. A proposal to automate this methodology and expand the analysis to a larger case set will be described.