P3.3 Analysis of several modern thundersnow proximity soundings

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Pre-Convene Space (Adam's Mark Hotel)
Patrick S. Market, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO; and G. Darkow, N. A. Stuart, S. Rochette, and A. R. Lupo

Four soundings have been flown in the United States during thundersnow events in the last four years, which easily meet the criteria of a proximity sounding. In light of recently published findings on 30 years of thundersnow proximity soundings and their composites, the authors compare those results to these four modern soundings. Synoptic setting is briefly detailed in each case, a comparison is made to the existing literature, and each sounding is then assessed for the likelihood of lightning production. In each case, the individual soundings compare favorably to the existing composite. Each one features a frontal inversion; three have appreciable mid-level lapse rates; two of those have measurable CAPE above the inversion. The two soundings without CAPE possess moist neutral layers in the mid-troposphere, which are also the least stable for parcel displacements.
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