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Aircraft observations of the origin and growth of very large snowflakes
Author(s) -
Lawson R. Paul,
Stewart Ronald E.,
Strapp J. Walter,
Isaac George A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/92gl02917
Subject(s) - snowflake , snow , storm , precipitation , convection , winter storm , atmospheric sciences , geology , volume (thermodynamics) , radar , meteorology , physics , aerospace engineering , engineering , quantum mechanics
A new high‐volume precipitation probe, capable of optically imaging particles up to about 5 cm, was flown in a winter storm during the second Canadian Atlantic Storms Program (CASP II). Dendritic crystals originating aloft in a region of (weak) convective instability were tracked and observed to aggregate into 4–5 cm snowflakes within an isothermal layer near 0° C. The region containing the very large snowflakes was characterized by high radar reflectivities and rapid accumulation of snow at the surface.