Evaluation of Radar and Satellite Characteristics Associated Events

Abstract:

Severe storms that produce large hail impact countless people causing millions of dollars of damage every year. Wind-driven hail can cause significant damage to occur to both life and property. Thus, being able to warn on these events is critical to the National Weather Service mission. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of anticipating the development of these severe events Evaluating the supercell event from 29 July 2018, that tracked from southeastern Wyoming into southwestern Kansas, we use radar data to investigate changes in rotational velocity and reflectivity and compare with satellite observations of vegetation damage. Through the use of available information for surface vegetation and crops, and Maximum Estimated Size of Hail (MESH), we investigate any relationships between observed changes in supercell structure to observed damage. Additionally, variations of reflectivity in the forward flank and rear flank of the storm are examined for high reflectivity within the rear flank downdraft (RFD) to see if hail was entering the RFD and resulting in wind-driven hail. The results of this study will be summarized and presented.