Atmospheric Sciences 5700 Mesoscale and Radar Meteorology

Atmospheric Sciences 5700
Mesoscale and Radar Meteorology

	Spring Semester 2023 (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 2023)
Survey

Diagram of the flow within a supercell thunderstorm

Exams

Midterm Exam: Thursday, Apr 6
Final Exam: Due Wednesday, May 3, noon (take-home)
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 (new 2023)
4. & 5. Convective Storms 1 (updated 2/28/22)
6. & 7. Convective Storms 2 (updated 2/28/22)
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 2023)

Exercise 1: Parcel buoyancy and the skew-T log p diagram. Due Thursday, Jan 21.
Exercise 1.5: Lake effect snow: Tom Gowan defense. Due Friday, Feb 3 by 11:59 pm.
Exercise 2: Principles of Convection: Hodographs, Shear and Convective Storms Problem 1: Due Thursday, Feb 9 by noon, Problem 2: Due Tuesday, Feb 14 by noon .
Exercise 3: Severe Convection: Mesoscale Convective Systems Due Thursday, Feb 23.
Exercise 4: Severe weather parameters. Due Friday, Mar 17.
Exercise 5: More on severe weather parameters: Tuesday, Mar 21 and Thursday, Mar 23 (in-class presentation)
Report: Presentation to class on Apr 20 and 25; written report due May 2

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 24, 2023