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Storm Attributes

02 Jun 2016 05:35 AM
The most commonly seen product from a weather RADAR system is the base reflectivity map showing hydrometer concentration at the lowest elevation above ground (~ precipitation rate). The NWS NEXRAD system also runs algorithms on this data to track individual storm locations, intensities, and movements. The IEM archives these storm attributes and the featured image presents two histograms comparing storm speed vs direction and the direction vs week of the year. Of course, the majority of storms happen during the warm portion of our season, but the bottom chart also shows a shift in storm motion with spring and early summer storms traveling from the southwest and late summer storms traveling more from the west. This has to do with the dominate upper tropospheric flow patterns with the establishment of the southwestern monsoon season. The top chart shows that the dominate storm direction is from the southwest. Storms travelling from the north of west are slower moving. You can view this chart on this website for other NEXRAD locations in the US!

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Tags:   nexrad   storm