Bright Banding

[Andrew Butler]

Near heart failure this morning turned into an educational experience.

Thought I'd fire up the radar and check out where the snow/sleet was falling and nearly fell out of my chair when this popped up:

Eventually common sense won over my first inclination to run screaming outdoors looking for the apparent tornadic supercell over my head ... and with a little detective work and some help from another forum I figured out what was going on.

What a fun, educational experience this morning. I learn something new every day.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Maybe it is from lack of sleep and just confused, but what was your educational experience? Is there something specific we're looking at on your radar screen?

 

[Andrew Butler]

My educational experience was that I didn't know snow could produce a radar echo that liked like a strong thunderstorm. I was sure I was looking at radar from last summer... it was quite traumatic for a few seconds...

Just thought I would share a humorous learning experience. Interesting to note that the snowflakes we had this morning were gigantic, unlike any I have seen before.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

My educational experience was that I didn't know snow could produce a radar echo that liked like a strong thunderstorm. I was sure I was looking at radar from last summer... it was quite traumatic for a few seconds...

Just thought I would share a humorous learning experience. Interesting to note that the snowflakes we had this morning were gigantic, unlike any I have seen before.

Ah gotcha, I knew my confusion was from lack of sleep. lol

 

[Kenny Drake]

Nice bright brand effect in western WI from MPX 88D last night too. It occurs in the level where falling frozen precip is melting. Therefore, you end up with a "coating" of liquid around a "blob" of frozen ice and it looks like one gigantic rain-drop. Pretty cool stuff and you can also use the data to see where the melting level is. As can be seen from the base reflectivity image you posted, the melting level was just barely above the surface as MPX is within 10-15 miles of the bright band. That would align up nicely with what we saw at the surface this morning... a wet sleet/rain.