Nick Biermann
EF0
Moderators: Please merge with the existing "2012-04-04 MISC: TX" thread, if appropriate.
KWCH-TV of Wichita has some rather interesting photos sent in by viewers who spotted a cold-air funnel west of Wichita a bit after 5pm this evening:
http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-stormshots-april-4-cold-air-funnels-20120404,0,6290377.photogallery
And here is the 523pm METAR observation from Mid-Continent Airport on the SW side of the city:
KICT 042223Z 20012KT 4SM R01L/5500VP6000FT +TSRA BR BKN025CB BKN047 BKN085 16/14 A2970 RMK FUNNEL CLOUD B10 FUNNEL CLOUD E22 AO2 TSB11RAB08 FUNNEL CLOUD DSIPTD VC SW OCNL LTGICCG TS S-W LTL MOVMT P0010
As far as I know, the funnel was not associated with a surface circulation and did not cause any damage. Nevertheless, it formed under developing thunderstorms along an east-west oriented surface boundary in an area with sufficient low-level instability such that updraft stretching of pre-existing surface vorticity could lead to non-mesocyclone tornado/funnel formation. It's nice to see an example of how the science plays out in real-life.
Attached are images of the surface boundary at 5pm and visible satellite from 4pm (from RAL/UCAR), along with 0-3km CAPE and surface vorticity, 0-3km CAPE and 0-3km Lapse Rates, and the corresponding Non-supercell tornado index (from NOAA/SPC). Hopefully I do this right so they display properly.
EDIT: I don't know why the displayed images are so tiny and of such poor resolution :-/, so here are the URLs for those who want to look while they last:'
Sfc obs: http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/displaySfc.php?region=ict&endDate=20120404&endTime=22&duration=0
Vissat: http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/satelli...=large&endDate=20120404&endTime=21&duration=0
Mesoanalysis: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/new/viewsector.php?sector=14
KWCH-TV of Wichita has some rather interesting photos sent in by viewers who spotted a cold-air funnel west of Wichita a bit after 5pm this evening:
http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-stormshots-april-4-cold-air-funnels-20120404,0,6290377.photogallery
And here is the 523pm METAR observation from Mid-Continent Airport on the SW side of the city:
KICT 042223Z 20012KT 4SM R01L/5500VP6000FT +TSRA BR BKN025CB BKN047 BKN085 16/14 A2970 RMK FUNNEL CLOUD B10 FUNNEL CLOUD E22 AO2 TSB11RAB08 FUNNEL CLOUD DSIPTD VC SW OCNL LTGICCG TS S-W LTL MOVMT P0010
As far as I know, the funnel was not associated with a surface circulation and did not cause any damage. Nevertheless, it formed under developing thunderstorms along an east-west oriented surface boundary in an area with sufficient low-level instability such that updraft stretching of pre-existing surface vorticity could lead to non-mesocyclone tornado/funnel formation. It's nice to see an example of how the science plays out in real-life.
Attached are images of the surface boundary at 5pm and visible satellite from 4pm (from RAL/UCAR), along with 0-3km CAPE and surface vorticity, 0-3km CAPE and 0-3km Lapse Rates, and the corresponding Non-supercell tornado index (from NOAA/SPC). Hopefully I do this right so they display properly.
EDIT: I don't know why the displayed images are so tiny and of such poor resolution :-/, so here are the URLs for those who want to look while they last:'
Sfc obs: http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/displaySfc.php?region=ict&endDate=20120404&endTime=22&duration=0
Vissat: http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/satelli...=large&endDate=20120404&endTime=21&duration=0
Mesoanalysis: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/new/viewsector.php?sector=14
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