Atmospheric Sciences 5700 Mesoscale and Radar Meteorology

Atmospheric Sciences 5700
Mesoscale and Radar Meteorology

	Spring Semester 2024 (3 credits)
	Tu Th 12:25 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. (lecture)
	WBB 820

	Prof. Steven K. Krueger
	WBB 725
	801-581-3903
	Steve.Krueger@utah.edu
	Office Hours: W 1:00-2:00 pm or by appointment

Syllabus (updated for 2024)
Survey

Diagram of the flow within a supercell thunderstorm

Exams

Midterm Exam: Thursday, Mar 14 (may be adjusted)
Final Exam: Date and format TBD
Study guide for midterm

In-class activities: (TBD)

Recorded Lectures: Will be announced in CANVAS

Lectures (Tentative schedule)

1. Introduction to Mesoscale Meteorology

Alabama tornadoes, March 2019

2. Meteorological Measurements: Radar

3. Lake Effect Snow Great Salt Lake-Effect Precipitation
4. & 5. Convective Storms 1
6. & 7. Convective Storms 2
8. Tornadoes 1
9. & 10. Tornadoes 2
Tornado Intensity and Pretornadic Mesocyclone Characteristics
11 & 12. Downbursts and Sting Jets
12. Hail
13. Mountain Waves and Downslope Windstorms

Assignments (dates updated for 2024 and may be adjusted)

Exercise 1: Parcel buoyancy and the skew-T log p diagram. Due Thursday, Jan 18.
Exercise 1.5: Lake effect snow: Tom Gowan defense. Due Friday, Feb 9 by 11:59 pm.
Exercise 2: Principles of Convection: Hodographs, Shear and Convective Storms Problem 1: Due Thursday, Feb 15 by noon, Problem 2: Due Tuesday, Feb 20 by noon .
Exercise 3: Severe Convection: Mesoscale Convective Systems Due Thursday, Feb 29.
Exercise 4: Severe weather parameters. Due Friday, Mar 15.
Exercise 5: More on severe weather parameters: Thursday, Mar 28 or Tuesday, Apr 2 (in-class presentations)
Exercise 6: Numerical integration of the parcel model. Due Thursday, Apr 18. Matlab program. Python program. Plots for problem 1(a).
Report: Presentations to class on Apr 18 and 23; written report due Apr 30

Notes

Thermodynamics Notes
Precipitation rate
Microburst downdrafts
Microburst 2008 Aug 25: Sounding Surface observations Time-lapse movie

Skew T-log p diagram

Forecasting Convection

Sounding Station Parameters and Indices (essential definitions)
Convective Parameters and Indices (very useful)
Buoyancy and CAPE (MetEd training module)
A Convective Storm Matrix: Buoyancy/Shear Dependencies (MetEd training module)
Detailed forecaster guide, 33 pages
Climate and Weather Terms Glossary (useful)
Glossary of Meteorology
Fort Worth soundings May 2004
Cumulus levels and types
CAPE and levels on skew T

References

MATLAB Online References

Last updated Apr 16, 2024