1. Summary of Mobile Mesonet Observations on 3 May 1999
Paul Markowski
School of Meteorology and CIMMS
University of Oklahoma

2. Acknowledgments All VORTEX volunteers Erik Rasmussen Jerry Straka
Al Pietrycha Joshua Wurman
Curtis Alexander

3. The “Mobile Mesonet”

4. Objectives N N N T T T

5. Objectives Is there something “thermodynamically
special” about hook echoes and RFDs
associated with tornadic supercells?

6. Findings RFDs were relatively warm and moist
Hook echoes lacked temperature gradients
RFDs were associated with high pressure

7. Storm A

8. Storm A

9. Storm A

10. Storm A

11. Storm B

12. Storm B

13. Storm B

14. Storm B

15. Implications
Evaporative cooling and entrainment of midlevel potentially cold air played a small or negligible role in the forcing of RFDs
Does tornadogenesis probability, longevity, and intensity increase as RFD parcels become more buoyant?
Microphysics parameterizations used by today’s cloud models cannot produce RFDs with the thermodynamic properties as those observed
Are there any large-scale environmental conditions that favor one type of RFD over another? (5/3/99 argues that the answer is “yes”)