Display board of WSR-88D Doppler radar images of severe thunderstorms over central Kentucky.
Upper Left: Low-level base reflectivity image of a large supercell thunderstorm that produced a damaging tornado (in the hook echo area) in northeast Bullitt County (just south of Louisville) on May 28, 1996.
Lower Left: Low-level storm-relative velocity image of a mesocyclone (red outbound-green inbound couplet; radar located to the west/left of the area shown) in northeast Bullitt County (just south of Louisville) that produced a damaging tornado on May 28, 1996. Note the enhanced storm-relative inflow (area of light green color) in extreme northeast Bullitt and western Spencer Counties, along the forward flank downdraft boundary. This inflow apparently funneled into the hook echo area and increased the strength of the low-level mesocyclone resulting in generation and maintenance of the tornado. This image corresponds to the reflectivity image in the upper left corner.
Upper Center: Low-level base reflectivity image of a supercell thunderstorm that produced a damaging tornado (in the hook echo area) in Leitchfield (Grayson County), Kentucky on May 23, 2000.
Lower Center: Squall line and embedded intense bow echo across north-central Kentucky on May 14, 1995. Damaging straight-line winds occured along the bow apex, which often is positioned on the leading edge of a weak echo channel (WEC) denoting the location of a rear inflow jet responsible for producing wind damage along the leading gust front. Tornadoes can spin-up rapidly just north of the bow apex. The heaviest rainfall (red and orange colors) often display as "S" shape or line echo wave pattern in organized, severe bow echoes.
Right:
Reflectivity vertical cross-section of a large supercell thunderstorm (numbers
are in 1000s of ft). A deep layer of very heavy precipitation (red colors)
existed in the storm (up to above 40,000 ft). In addition, the
pink region inside the red area from 5000 to 35,000 ft indicated a deep
layer of large hail within the storm, suspended aloft by an
intense, rotating updraft (mesocyclone). The echo top of the storm is over 50,000 ft,
while lighter precipitation is suspended aloft to the right of the most
intense portion of the storm.
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