Radar Proxy Updraft Properties in QLCSs During PERiLS – 2022

Results from recent modeling and observational work have connected the size or area of convective updrafts with hazardous weather, including tornadoes and large hail. Additional studies have hypothesized near-storm environmental (NSE) controls on updraft size. However, observationally, little is known about the evolution of updraft sizes in quasi-linear convective systems (QLCSs) and what impact the near-storm environment has on the updraft sizes at both low and midlevels. A recent and ongoing multi-agency integrated field project focused on better understanding the development and life cycles of tornadoes in QLCSs provides an opportunity to do so. The Propagation, Evolution, and Rotation in Linear Storms (PERiLS) field project completed its first year of deployments in March-May of 2022 in the Southeast U.S. In 2022, there were four PERiLS Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs), each lasting several hours. Analysis of WSR-88D, mobile radar, and extensive near storm environment data will allow for a detailed study of the relationship between midlevel updraft size proxies (ZDR columns) and low-level mesocyclone width, storm hazards, and if changes in updraft size can be linked to any changes in the near-storm environment. In order to mimic information that would be available to forecasters, data from the nearby WSR-88D radars are used to estimate QLCS updraft size and variability over time using ZDR column size as an updraft size proxy. Data from the Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching (SMART) Radars are used to estimate the width of low-level mesocyclones. These data are then combined with NSE data obtained by the multitude of mobile sounding teams on PERiLS. Topics of study include: single and total updraft size variability throughout deployment periods, spatial and temporal changes in the NSE that are evident as observable changes in updraft proxy size, and the relationship between updraft sizes in any tornado or hail cases.