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A large dataset of aircraft cloud traverses from the Small Cumulus Microphysics Study (SCMS) was used to add to the existing knowledge of humidity halo characteristics for small cumulus clouds in a tropical environment. The findings from this investigation show a larger frequency of observed humidity halos than earlier studies. Regardless of the radial direction with respect to shear, humidity halos were observed with a frequency of 77%-90%. The difference in frequency of halo occurrences between upshear and downshear regions was much smaller than previously reported observations. These findings likely resulted from the absence of a strong vertical wind shear environment. SCMS cumuli had a mean cloud diameter (i.e., in-cloud traverse distance) of 1.1 km and mean halo lengths of about 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 cloud radii for upshear, cross-shear, and downshear regions, respectively. Humidity halos of less than one cloud radius were observed during about 70% of SCMS aircraft traverses. Approximately 98% of humidity halos had radial lengths of less than four cloud radii. Although considerable differences were not observed between upshear and downshear halo lengths for clouds of similar age, large increases in the frequency and length of halos occurred with an increase in cloud age.

Lake-effect storms (LESs) can produce substantial snowfall in the vicinity of the downwind shores of the Great Lakes. The operational forecasting community and previous modeling studies have suggested that LESs [...]

Observations of the effects of relative humidity on coalescence are limited to studies using supported drops or streams of drops, and the results are contradictory. In this paper, findings are presented on the effect of high and low relative humidity on collisions between freely falling drops. Comparisons between the collision outcomes (coalescence, bounce, and temporary coalescence with and without satellite drops) for high-humidity (RH > 95%) and low-humidity (RH [approximately equal to] 30%) experiments were made for small precipitation drops at terminal velocity and with minimal electric charge. Coalescence begins after the air-film between colliding drops is drained sufficiently to allow the drops to make contact. For temporary coalescence, the union of the two drops is not permanent because the rotational energy caused by a non-head-on collision is sufficient to pull the coalesing drops apart. One or more satellite drops form during a temporary coalescence when water filament between the separating drops breaks in more than one location. Experiments with higher drop charge were used to examine further the influence of humidity on coalescence. Our results show that relative humidity does not affect the coalescence efficiency for small precipitation drops. The effect of humidity is limited to collisions where permanent coalescence does not occur, and the collision outcome can be temporary coalescence. In cases where bounce is also a possible outcome, it was found that the probability of bounce is enhanced at the expense of temporary coalescence when relative humidity is decreased. For two of the comparisons between high-humidity and low-humidity results, the fraction of temporary coalescence collision outcomes halved at low humidity. Since the colliding drops are at the wet-bulb temperature, this effect is traced to the colder air gap that drains more slowly and retards coalescence at lower humidities. At high relative humidity the number of satellite drops about doubles with the increased probability of temporary coalescence. Other experiments showed that the increase in satellite drops at higher relative humidities also occurs for cases where collision outcomes are limited to coalescence or temporary coalescence. Since there are more temporary coalescence outcomes at the higher relative humidities in clouds, there are also more satellite drops that can act as embryos for new raindrops. These results apply to rain shafts within and below clouds.

Self-collection efficiencies were measured for isolated drop pairs falling at terminal velocity using orthogonal cameras to obtain the horizontal offset of the drops before collision and the collision outcome. Data were obtained on four different drop-size pairs over a range of impact Weber number (1-10) and size ratio (0.45-0.73). Collision offsets and outcomes were recorded during 45 experiment runs as a function of drop charge. The collision results from all 4200 events were tabulated by offset and charge, and the coalescence efficiency was determined for each run as a function of charge. Collision results revealed a coalescence region for small offset and a bounce region at intermediate-to-large offset and low-to-intermediate charge. The critical offset that separated the regions of coalescence and bounce was independent of charge. At higher values of charge, increasing charge was found to induce permanent and/or temporary coalescence from smaller and larger offsets until bounce was completely eliminated. In the offset range for temporary coalescence, the filament connecting the separating drops often collapsed into one and, occasionally, two satellite drops. Mean satellite sizes of 58-81-[[micro]meter] radius were generally consistent with previous measurements using colliding drop streams. The production of satellite drops by colliding precipitation drops should provide precipitation embryos that would accelerate the accretion of cloud water in warm-base convective clouds. Coalescence efficiencies of 15%-55% at minimal charge were significantly lower than previously reported for smaller drops; therefore, the results indicate a further reduction in the growth rate of precipitation drops. The efficiencies did not vary in a simple way with either Weber number or size ratio. For a constant size ratio (p [approximately equal to] 0.7) the coalescence efficiency decreased with increasing Weber number, whereas for a constant Weber number (We [approximately equal to] 4.2) the coalescence efficiency decreased with increasing size ratio. An excellent fit to the laboratory coalescence efficiencies, using the theoretical scaling for inelastic collisions, is presented in a companion paper. The resulting formulas for precipitation drops will allow application of these findings to self collection, a process that controls the spreading of raindrops to larger sizes and the growth of radar reflectivity.

The microphysical processes that lead to the development of precipitation in small, warm cumulus are examined using data from the Small Cumulus Microphysics Study near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aircraft measurements are used to determine the concentration and size distribution of giant and ultragiant nuclei in clear air as a function of relative humidity, altitude, wind speed, and wind direction. The clear-air particle distributions show that ultragiant particles (radii extending from 10 to 150 [micro] m) exist from the surface to cloud base in concentrations that correspond to the concentrations of raindrops observed during drizzle to moderate rainfall events. A shift of the spectra toward larger size with increasing relative humidity was observed, suggesting that the spectra are composed of deliquesced particles growing by condensation. The small cumulus clouds are shown to contain cores where the observed liquid water content was nearly adiabatic. The observed evolution of the cloud droplet distribution within the near-adiabatic cores as a function of height showed an increase in the small droplet mode associated with condensation and an increase in the concentration of larger droplets associated with growth by accretion. Droplets with radii extending to nearly 100 [micro] m were present just above cloud base. These measurements were consistent with the clear-air measurements and provided evidence that the ultragiant nuclei can immediately act as embryos for raindrop growth by accretion upon entering cloud base. Comparisons of reflectivity computed from the cumulus core composite droplet distributions with the radar-observed reflectivity data provided independent evidence that the composite spectra reasonably represented the evolving microstructure of the cores of small cumulus clouds as they grew vertically. The analyses provide strong evidence of an efficient process for the initial development of precipitation in small Florida cumuli. This process consists of raindrop embryo formation on ultragiant nuclei followed by growth by accretion as the newly formed drops proceed upward through the adiabatic cores of the cumulus clouds. These data support the conceptual model of raindrop formation in marine clouds first proposed by Woodcock a half century ago.

The oscillations of moderate to large raindrops are investigated using a seven-story fall column with shape data obtained from multiple-strobe photographs. Measurements are made at a fall distance of 25 m for drops of D = 2.5-, 2.9-, 3.6-, and 4.0-mm diameter, with additional measurements at intermediate distances to assess the role of aerodynamic feedback as the source of drop oscillations. Oscillations, initiated by the drop generator, are found to decay during the first few meters of fall and then increase to where the drops attained terminal speed near 10 m. Throughout the lower half of the fall column, the oscillation amplitudes are essentially constant. These apparently steady-state oscillations are attributed to resonance with vortex shedding. For D = 2.5 and 3.6 mm, the mean axis ratio is near the theoretical equilibrium value, a result consistent with axisymmetric (oblate/prolate mode) oscillations at the fundamental frequency. For D = 2.9 and 4.0 mm, however, the mean axis ratio is larger than the theoretical equilibrium value by 0.01 to 0.03, a characteristic of transverse mode oscillations. Comparison with previous axis ratio and vortex-shedding measurements suggests that the oscillation modes of raindrops are sensitive to initial conditions, but because of the prevalence of off-center drop collisions, the predominant steady-state response in rain is expected to be transverse mode oscillations. A simple formula is obtained from laboratory and field measurements to account for the generally higher average axis ratio of raindrops having transverse mode oscillations. In the application to light to heavy rainfall, the ensemble mean axis ratios for raindrop sizes of D = 1.5-4.0 mm are shifted above equilibrium values by 0.01-0.04. as a result of steady-state transverse mode oscillations maintained intrinsically by vortex shedding. Compared to the previous axis ratio formula based on wind tunnel measurements, the increased axis ratios for oscillating raindrops amount to a reduction of 0.1-0.4 dB in radar differential reflectivity [Z.sub.DR], and an increase of about 0.5 mm for a reflectivity-weighted mean drop size of less than about 3 mm.

Boundary layer rolls over Lake Michigan have been observed in wintertime conditions predicted by many past studies to favor nonroll convective structures (such as disorganized convection or cellular convection). This study examines mechanisms that gave rise to transitions between boundary layer rolls and more cellular convective structures observed during a lake-effect snow event over Lake Michigan on 17 December 1983. The purposes of this study are to better understand roll formation in marine boundary layers strongly heated from below and examine the evolution of snowfall rate and mass overturning rate within the boundary layer during periods of convective transition. A method of quantifying the uniformity of convection along the roll axes, based on dual-Doppler radar-derived vertical motions, was developed to quantify changes in boundary layer convective structure. Roll formation was found to occur after (within 1 h) increases in low-level wind speeds and speed shear primarily below about 0.3z[sub i] , with little change in directional shear within the convective boundary layer. Roll convective patterns appeared to initiate upstream of the sample region, rather than form locally near the downwind shore of Lake Michigan. These findings suggest that either rolls developed over the upwind half of Lake Michigan or that the convection had a delayed response to changes in the atmospheric surface and wind forcing. Mass overturning rates at midlevels in the boundary layer peaked when rolls were dominant and gradually decreased when cellular convection became more prevalent. Radar-estimated aerial-mean snowfall rates showed little relationship with changes in convective structure. However, when rolls were dominant, the heaviest snow was more concentrated in updraft regions than during more cellular time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides insight from the use of weather radar observations to understand the characteristics of the eared grebe migration near the Great Salt Lake (GSL) and provides unique information on weather conditions connected to these migration events. Doppler weather radar measurements from the Salt Lake City, Utah WSR-88D radar site (KMTX), along with meteorological surface and rawinsonde data, were used to identify and examine 281 eared grebe migration events across 15 winters from 1997/1998 through 2011/2012. An average of about 19 migration events occurred each winter with considerable interannual variability, as well as large variance in the spatial area and number of birds departing the GSL during each event. The migration events typically occurred during clear sky conditions in the presence of surface high pressure and colder than average surface temperatures. Migration events began 55 min after sunset, on average across the winter seasons, and in one case we demonstrate that an extended, nonstop flight was initiated of the departing eared grebes to northern Mexico. Eared grebes leaving the GSL largely flew above the freezing level with a mean northerly tailwind at flight altitude of 3.1 m s -1 and a westerly, cross-flight wind of 5.0 m s -1 while having an average flight speed at cruising altitude of 16.9 m s -1 , or 61 km h -1 . In addition to determining the variability of meteorological conditions during migration events across the 15 winters, atmospheric conditions during the largest migration event observed are presented and discussed.