The Relationship between Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity and Surface Equivalent Potential Temperature during Three Tornadic Outbreaks

Smith, Stephan B.; LaDue, James G.; MacGorman, Donald R.

doi:10.1175/1520-0493(2000)128<3320:trbctg>2.0.co;2

Cited by 41 publications

(54 citation statements)

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“…Positive CG flashes produced by severe storms were first documented by Rust et al (1981a,b). Since this time, numerous other studies have recognized the occurrence of positive CG flashes with severe storms (e.g., Rust et al 1985;Reap and MacGorman 1989;MacGorman and Nielsen 1991;Curran and Rust 1992;Branick and Doswell 1992;Seimon 1993;Knapp 1994;MacGorman and Burgess 1994;Stolzenburg 1994;Perez et al 1997;Bluestein and MacGorman 1998;Carey and Rutledge 1998;Smith et al 2000;Gilmore and Wicker 2002;Lang and Rutledge 2002;Carey and Rutledge 2003;Carey et al 2003a;Carey et al 2003b;Lang et al 2004;MacGorman et al 2005;Wiens et al 2005). …”

Section: _____________ This Thesis Follows the Style Of Monthly Weathmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Branick and Doswell (1992) make the important point that "before we can use lightning polarity data effectively in warning operations, we must learn why only some severe storms produce high positive CG rates, and, in particular, which storms. " MacGorman and Burgess (1994) echo this concern, stating that "before forecasters can use positive cloud-to-ground lightning to help diagnose severe weather in these cases, research is severe storms will lead to an improved understanding of the cloud electrification mechanisms at work in these storms, which remains speculative at this time (e.g., MacGorman and Nielsen 1991;MacGorman and Burgess 1994;Carey and Rutledge 1998;Smith et al 2000;Williams 2001;Gilmore and Wicker 2002;Lang and Rutledge 2002;Carey et al 2003a;Carey et al 2003b;Lang et al 2004;MacGorman et al 2005;Wiens et al 2005).…”

Section: _____________ This Thesis Follows the Style Of Monthly Weathmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have noted that severe storms passing through similar mesoscale regions on a given day tend to exhibit similar CG lightning behavior (Branick and Doswell 1992;MacGorman and Burgess 1994;Smith et al 2000;Gilmore and Wicker 2002). MacGorman and Burgess (1994) were among the first to hypothesize that the dominant polarity of CG lightning is strongly influenced by mesoscale properties of the atmosphere, possibly through systematic effects on other storm properties related to severe weather.…”

Section: B Effects Of the Local Mesoscale Environment On Cg Lightninmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Control of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity in Severe Storms

Carey

Buffalo

2007

Monthly Weather Review

117

157

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In this study, it is hypothesized that the mesoscale environment can indirectly control the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning polarity of severe storms by directly affecting their structural, dynamical, and microphysical properties, which in turn directly control cloud electrification and CG flash polarity. A more specific hypothesis, which has been supported by past observational and laboratory charging studies, suggests that broad, strong updrafts and associated large liquid water contents in severe storms lead to enhanced positive charging of graupel and hail via the noninductive charging mechanism, the generation of an inverted charge structure, and increased positive CG lightning production. The corollary is that environmental conditions favoring these

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Section: _____________ This Thesis Follows the Style Of Monthly Weathmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: _____________ This Thesis Follows the Style Of Monthly Weathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Effects Of the Local Mesoscale Environment On Cg Lightninmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Control of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity in Severe Storms

Carey

Buffalo

2007

Monthly Weather Review

117

157

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“…5.3) creates a notable near-surface instability maximum over Brisbane (Fig. 5.4), which may influence convective updraft intensity (e.g., Smith et al 2000;Kunz et al 2009;Mona et al 2016). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Small-scale changes in near-surface and CBL conditions have been shown to significantly influence both the initiation (e.g., Weckwerth 2000; Wakimoto and Murphey 2009) and development of existing convective storms (Smith et al 2000). However, the representativeness of near-surface observations are limited in the absence of a well-mixed boundary layer (Mueller et al 1993;Weckwerth et al 1996).…”

Section: Planetary Boundary Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

The coastal convective interactions experiment

Soderholm¹

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Prediction of convective storm environments relies principally upon the broad-scale meteorology (e.g., synoptic boundaries and air masses) in contrast to local-scale (2 -20 km) processes within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Diurnal heating of the Earth's heterogeneous surface at these finer scales forces circulations (e.g., sea breezes, valley winds, urban heat island circulations) which have been related to trends in the meteorological and climatological activity of storms; however, a quantitative understanding of their interactions with deep convection is limited. This is especially true for physical settings which support a variety of PBL circulations that challenge our understanding of ii Detailed analysis of the CCIE climatology datasets provided an understanding of SEQ hailstorms across a range of spatiotemporal scales. At the inter-annual time scale, the ElNiño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was shown to have a statistically significant relationship with both hailstorm and sea breeze frequency in SEQ. Synoptic scale southeasterly changes that were found to couple with sea breezes provide the most favourable environment for hailstorms, particularly for southwest SEQ. At the mesoscale, hail development within convective cells was found to be most frequent within the inland limb of maritime air masses on sea breeze days. It was concluded, that the maritime sea breeze air is potentially favourable for convection after modification through inland propagation and the associated entrainment of sensible heat.Investigation of the CCIE field campaign datasets show that diurnal modification of the coastal PBL by near-surface and boundary layer processes provide favourable preconditioning for convective storms. This includes: (1) early sea breeze onset for the city of Brisbane due an urban heat island enhanced land-sea thermal contrast, (2) significant afternoon warming and moistening above the sea breeze attributed to the advection of the inland convective boundary layer coastward under prevailing westerly flow, and (3) substantial variations in near-surface moisture likely associated with topography and landuse. For the 27 November 2014 Brisbane case study hailstorm event, which caused damages exceeding $1.5 billion AUD, these diurnal preconditioning processes are shown to be favourable for the development of a mesoscale convective environment capable of supporting large hailstone growth. The multicell-HP supercell storm mode identified for this event and previous similar events in SEQ is hypothesised to be more sensitive to variations in near-surface and boundary layer instability. This is in contrast to contemporary supercell storms, highlighting the importance of PBL observations for developing an understanding of convective storms in subtropical coastal environments.In summary, this thesis provides a substantial and original contribution towards understanding of subtropical coastal storm environments. The integration of meteorological and climatological datasets from the CCIE provided a wealth of evi...

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Environmental controls on storm intensity and charge structure in multiple regions of the continental United States

et al. 2015

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A database consisting of approximately 4000 storm observations has been objectively analyzed to determine environmental characteristics that produce high radar reflectivities above the freezing level, large total lightning flash rates on the order of 10 flashes per minute, and anomalous vertical charge structures (most notably, dominant midlevel positive charge). The storm database is drawn from four regions of the United States featuring distinct environments, each with coinciding Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) network data. LMAs are able to infer total lightning flash rates using flash clustering algorithms, such as the one implemented in this study. Results show that anomalous charge structures inferred from LMA data, significant lightning flash rates, and increased radar reflectivities above the freezing level tend to be associated with environments that have high cloud base heights (approximately 3 km above ground level) and large atmospheric instability, quantified by normalized convective available potential energy (NCAPE) near 0.2 m s −2 . Additionally, we infer that aerosols may affect storm intensity. Maximum flash rates were observed in storms with attributed aerosol concentrations near 1000 cm −3 , while total flash rates decrease when aerosol concentrations exceed 1500 cm −3 , consistent with previous studies. However, this effect is more pronounced in regions where the NCAPE and cloud base height are low. The dearth of storms with estimated aerosol concentrations less than 700 cm −3 (approximately 1% of total sample) does not provide a complete depiction of aerosol invigoration.

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The Relationship between Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity and Surface Equivalent Potential Temperature during Three Tornadic Outbreaks

Cited by 41 publications

References 20 publications

Environmental Control of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity in Severe Storms

Environmental Control of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Polarity in Severe Storms

The coastal convective interactions experiment

Environmental controls on storm intensity and charge structure in multiple regions of the continental United States

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