Identification

Title

Supercells and mesocylones in outer rain bands of Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Abstract

This study documents and describes supercells embedded within the outer rainbands of Hurricane Katrina (2005). Radar reflectivity and velocity data collected on 29 August 2005 by Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler radars were used to track the supercells. Radar analysis indicates that the supercells were characterized by heavy precipitation collocated with band-relative mesocylonic circulations containing strong vorticity and a wind speed enhancement to their northeast. Atmospheric soundings and dual-Doppler derived shear suggest that environmental conditions were comparable to those in previous hurricane-spawned supercell studies. Twenty-three storms from 0300-0900 UTC were tracked, and single- and dual-Doppler radar analyses were used to examine characteristics such as shear and rotational velocity. Remarkably, the majority of the supercells formed over the Gulf of Mexico rather than over land, which contrasts with previous studies. Furthermore, the ground-relative wind speeds of these potentially tornadic mesocyclones in the outer rainbands could have been Category 4 intensity despite sustained winds in Katrina's eyewall only reaching Category 3 at landfall.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d73779cs

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-08-19T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact