What Have We Learned About Convective Storms From Observations That We Could Not Have Learned From Numerical Simulations?

Numerical simulations have fostered breakthroughs in our understanding of convective storm dynamics and the influence of the larger-scale environment on storms.   Many of these advances would have been difficult to achieve with observations alone, given that carefully controlled numerical simulations allow investigators to isolate sensitivities and untangle complicated cause-and-effect relationships. 

However, there are several areas of severe storms research in which observations have been and will continue to be crucial toward advancing our understanding, such as the microphysical attributes of storms, cold pool properties, and the radiative effects of cloud shading.  It seems only fitting, given that Lance Bosart is an observationalist's observationalist, that my talk focus on the critical role of observations in severe storms research, with special emphasis on what we have learned from observations that we could not have learned from numerical models alone.