Cold Air Funnels

gdlewen

EF3
Joined
May 5, 2019
Messages
218
Location
Owasso, OK
Cold Air Funnels are a personal fascination, and so last Friday's post (5/12/2023 by @Jeff Wright in the WEAKEST TORNADO YOU'VE EVER DOCUMENTED thread ) of a cold air funnel in Montana motivates this thread.
View attachment ElReno FC 20210428 .mov

Here's my favorite cold air funnel so far. Multiple cold air funnels (CAF) formed in association with a line of showers and thundershowers that developed in the cold air behind a front on 4/28/2021.

This video was taken in El Reno, OK, but there were reports of funnel clouds all along the line The contrast is low, but if you look long enough, you can convince yourself (1) there is a clear slot behind the CAF, and (2) the sense of rotation is anticyclonic.

The funnel seems to dissipate coincident with the development of a nearby weak shower.

Bluestein has published a few papers on CAF and from what I understand, this response to the onset of local precipitation is typical. Haven't seen any reports of "clear slots" so for all I know this is just a random feature of the cloud base.
 
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