Polarimetric radar characteristics of warm front-crossing storms on 9 April 2015

On 9 April 2015, a surface warm front advanced northward across Iowa and northern Illinois. Several convective storms developed in the warm sector and moved northward, crossing the warm front. Previous research on storm-boundary interactions under similar circumstances has primarily focused on severe weather or tornado production. With the availability of polarimetric radar data from the WSR-88D network, it is now possible to infer hydrometeor type based on aggregated characteristics of the polarimetric variables. Polarimetric WSR-88D radar data were examined for storms that interacted with the warm front during the 9 April 2015 convective event to investigate radar-inferred microphysics in these convective cells. Comparisons were also made to conventional radar observations of storm characteristics, such as low-level and mid-level mesocyclone strength, and updraft signature characteristics.