Polarimetric, Doppler-radar observations of the "Owl Horn" radar signature in supercells

Kramar et al. (2005, Mon. Wea. Rev.) identified the “Owl-horn” radar signature on the rear side of developing supercells using mobile, X-band, radar reflectivity observations at low elevation angle, during a field experiment conducted in the Southern Plains in the spring of 2001. They estimated the wind field using TREC (Tracking Radar Echoes by Correlation), identified the conditions under which the “Owl Horn” signatures are found and hypothesized the physical mechanism responsible for them using idealized numerical simulations.

More recently, we have collected volumetric, mobile, X-band, Doppler-radar observations of the “Owl-horn” signature in supercells, some of them including polarimetric data and with high temporal resolution, using RaXPol (Rapid X-band Polarimetric Radar). In this talk we will show and discuss some of the data, including a more detailed 3-D examination of the signature and its evolution. We will speculate on what the significance of the radar signature is for supercell dynamics and the implications for short-range forecasting.