Analysis of convection initiation along a dryline on 19 June 2002

Convection initiation remains one of the most difficult aspects of severe storms forecasting. Several previous studies have indicated a possible relationship between misocyclones along boundaries and the location of initiation, while other studies do not confirm this relationship. Thus, the role of misocyclones in the convection initiation process has remained somewhat elusive.

Convection initiation was a major component of the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002). On 19 June 2002, the IHOP mobile armada observed a dryline near Colby, KS and the initiation of several cells. Numerous intense misocyclones associated with strong dustdevils were evident and their role in initiation is explored.

Dual- and multi-Doppler analyses using high-resolution data collected by the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) and XPOL radars are used together with mobile mesonet data, soundings, and cloud analyses to examine the evolution of the boundary and relationship to convection initiation.