MCV.s Mesoscale convective vortexes..Educate me

[tom hanlon]

I am trying to educate myself about MCV's but I am finding little documentation.

It all started with THIS thread about some weather about a week ago. That day caught me by surprise. The SPC had some risk for day one in IN IL and dropped it. Tornadoes happened. The discussion in that thread discounted the MCV. THe SPC had mentioned the MCV briefly in one or two iterations of the day one product.

So I went off searching for MCV info. Regardless as to wether the 5/31/06 tors were MCV related I am still curious. An MCV is mentioned in todays day one from the SPC.

WEAKENING MCS HAS GENERATED AN MCV
MOVING ESEWD OVER SERN NEB.[/b]

Doing some unscientific research..... When you search the SPC CO product archive for MCV, and then you search the reports archive... Each day that they mention MCV is a tornado day.

From the archive... LINK
AS WELL AS WITHIN MCV/SHORT
WAVE TROUGH LIFTING NEWD ALONG THE FRONTAL ZONE FROM ERN KS INTO NRN
MO.

Corresponding reports.. REPORTS

This is true for every outlook with the string MCV in it. LINK

I know that science of that tiny sample is faulty but what I want to know is this.

How do I detect an MCV ?
What level of the atmosphere is it ?
Is it big enough to show up on the /exper/mesoanalysis page that the SPC produces ?
Does it show up on radar/satellite or what ?

Just seeking to learn, anyone care to educate me ?

Todays day one mentions an MCV so I figured it is a good time to learn.

Thanks,

Tom Hanlon

 

[Jeff Snyder]

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago (I think) --> MCVs

You can often use visible and other channels of satellite to detect MCVs, though pressure tendencies should also show it (since there should be at least a minor surface reflection of an MCV passing overhead). If you loop a sat image, you'll often see a feature that looks like a small-scale cyclone. If there are showers or storms associated with this (which there are since they are necessary to developed MCVs, though such activity will often weaken as is typical by late morning and early afternoon the following day), you'll be able to see the cyclonic motion in radar imagery.

 

[rdale]

There's a 75-min basic presentation dedicated to MCV's at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/visit/mcv.html with instructor audio and slides (look for section E.)

Objectives:

Remind you of the satellite presentation of Mesoscale Convective Vortices (MCVs)
Give hints on how to anticipate MCV genesis/decay
Discuss model performance of MCVs

Outline:

MCV Information, Life Cycle and climatology
What do MCVs look like in IR and visible imagery?
3 case studies: July 6, July 21, Aug 18-19 (all 2003)

 

[Michael P. Morris]

If you look at a visible satellite loop over Oklahoma over the past few hours (12Z-17Z June 6) there is a clearly defined MCV which developed as last night's squall line collapsed. I has traveled roughly SSE along the periphery of the ridge, and has influenced the isolated cell currently located near Tulsa which has changed motion from SW to SE in the past few hours.

 

[Paul Austin]

As with the previous thread, I recommend the COMET modules.

see links

 

[Chris Vagasky]

Radar Imagery of 2 MCVs in South and Western Oklahoma on May 28