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Updraught characteristics of a Florida thunderstorm
Author(s) -
Hill R. D.
Publication year - 1988
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.49711448311
Subject(s) - thunderstorm , hard rime , environmental science , buoyancy , storm , meteorology , lightning (connector) , atmospheric sciences , mechanics , geology , geography , physics , thermodynamics , power (physics)
Abstract Because of possible significance in understanding lightning, the characteristics of an updraught velocity enhancement observed in a typical Florida thunderstorm are investigated. The most probable explanation of the sudden velocity enhancement is increased buoyancy resulting from the release of latent heat of freezing of supercooled droplets on to rime in the updraught. From information on updraughts in two different cells in the same storm, it is tentatively concluded that enhanced electrical activity, in typical Florida coastal thunderstorm cells, is probably associated with the mechanism of the initial charging of ice particles.