Evidence for Tilted Toroidal Circulations in Cumulus

Intense vortical circulations, often organized in counterrotating vortex pairs, were detected in midcontinental cumulus congestus over southeast Wyoming in July 2003. The sampled clouds developed in dry environments and at cold temperatures, and were a few kilometers in depth and width. Observations were obtained with the Wyoming Cloud Radar from aboard the Wyoming King Air research aircraft. Dual-Doppler analyses of the data yielded high-resolution (30–45 m) depictions of the horizontal components of air motions across vigorously growing clouds. The vortices found in the horizontal cross sections are interpreted as components of the toroidal circulations in thermals when those are tilted because of the effect of ambient cross flow. This configuration also leads to a partial stabilization of the vertical trajectory of the updraft, by opposing the drag by the ambient wind. Additionally, dry air intrusions were seen to accompany these features when the vortices developed near the cloud outer boundaries; recirculation of hydrometeors occurred when the vortices were adjacent to in-cloud downdrafts. These features are also evident in the radar reflectivity patterns. In general, gradients of velocities and vorticity values in horizontal planes are comparable to those found in vertical planes.