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Hailstorms in the Transvaal on 29 November 1972
Author(s) -
Carte A. E.,
Mader G. N.,
Triegaardt D. O.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49710343815
Subject(s) - storm , layering , precipitation , hard rime , radar , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , geology , geography , engineering , telecommunications , botany , biology
A broad band of non‐frontal storms moved northwards across a dense hail‐reporting network. the precipitation patterns of two isolated storms that produced hailstones > 5cm in diameter were studied in detail. Both storms gave a burst of large hailstones and then declined in severity, and ultimately merged. Radar reflectivity structures showed both to be essentially unicellular but one showed evidence of pulsating growth. Internal structures of several hundred hailstones from these two storms and a third less severe storm were examined. the growth centres of most were found to be rime but a few were concluded to have been frozen drops. the layering of the hailstones, the fallout pattern on the ground and features of the radar echoes all indicated greater complexity of the two severe storms than a single updraught that steadily built up to a maximum speed then faded out. Deuterium contents, reported in a companion paper, were determined for many of the hailstones. Storms on this day showed a spectrum of behaviour; some were organized multicellular complexes.