The Microbursts of June 22, 1982 in the Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) Project.
Abstract
On June 22, 1982, a line of storms developed in the network near Denver, CO, in response to interaction of boundary-layer convergence lines and wind parallel lines of convection. These storms produced 6 microbursts and 1 microburst line. Single and multiple Doppler radar data and surface network data were used to describe the structure and life cycle of the microburst outflows and to examine potential forcing mechanisms. The microburst outflows can be classified into 3 types: isolated, generally symmetric outflows; embedded in strong low-level environmental flow which reveal their symmetric diverging outflow structure only when the mean flow is eliminated; and the microburst line. Some of the microbursts decayed by weakening; others grew to larger-scale, less intense outflows. All of the microbursts were associated with descending high-reflectivity cores, many of which showed evidence of convergence and associated reflectivity decreases below cloud base. Most of the microbursts exhibited some rotation aloft. However, the relationship between the location or rotation and the downdraft was variable . Well-developed rotation also tended to be short-lived, and timing of the appearance of rotation during the microburst life cycle varied from case to case. Application of the downdraft model of Srivastava (1985) indicated that sufficient negative buoyancy could be produced by evaporation and precipitation loading to account for the magnitude of the observed microburst downdrafts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA184827
Entities
People
- Mark R. Hjelmfelt
Organizations
- National Center for Atmospheric Research