Doug Lee
An explanation, perhaps?
I suspect that the heat island effect sometimes plays a role. I can see where the effect could be strong enough to affect surface winds and thus hamper a storm's inflow. However, I can also see where, if the storm is strong enough, it will last long enough to move on top of a city, and the heat island effect then enhances the storm's strength.
A couple of years ago, a late afternoon storm laid down a lot of hail on east Tulsa. The storm was just a regular storm when it was southwest of the city. I think Tulsa's heat island fed warm, moist air into the storm and strengthened the updraft, and that allowed the hail to grow. The east side of Tulsa has more open land than the rest of the city. So, when the storm reached the east side, it moved into a cooler environment, the inflow decreased, the updraft weakened, and you could say that all hail broke loose.
I suspect that the heat island effect sometimes plays a role. I can see where the effect could be strong enough to affect surface winds and thus hamper a storm's inflow. However, I can also see where, if the storm is strong enough, it will last long enough to move on top of a city, and the heat island effect then enhances the storm's strength.
A couple of years ago, a late afternoon storm laid down a lot of hail on east Tulsa. The storm was just a regular storm when it was southwest of the city. I think Tulsa's heat island fed warm, moist air into the storm and strengthened the updraft, and that allowed the hail to grow. The east side of Tulsa has more open land than the rest of the city. So, when the storm reached the east side, it moved into a cooler environment, the inflow decreased, the updraft weakened, and you could say that all hail broke loose.
