Small Supercells in San Francisco Bay Region
March 4, 1996

Supercell--a thunderstorm with a deep (1/3 to 1/4 of the depth of the precipitation echo) and persistant (circulation lasts at least 15 minutes) mesocyclone [definition from Johns and Doswell (1992)].

This shows schematic radar sections intersecting a classic supercell at 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 km above ground level. Contours are radar reflectivity in dBZ. Note the low level hook (1 and 4 km) surmounted by the symmetric echo at 10 km producing a Bounded Weak Echo Region (BWER). Click on map or chart to obtain larger version.

This shows schematic radar sections intersecting a shallow supercell at 0.33, 0.67, 1, 5 and 8 km above ground level. Contours are radar reflectivity in dBZ. Note the low level hook (0.33 and 0.67 km) surmounted by the symmetric echo at 5 km and above producing a Bounded Weak Echo Region (BWER). Click on map or chart to obtain larger version.

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