Multicell Thunderstorms

I often hear people complain that they were forecasting thunderstorms today but they were wrong again - I never got a drop of rain. They are those... more

by Phil Chadwick

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Price

$375

Dimensions

10.000 x 8.000 x 0.250 inches

Title

Multicell Thunderstorms

Artist

Phil Chadwick

Medium

Painting - Oil On Panel

Description

I often hear people complain that "they" were forecasting thunderstorms today but "they" were wrong again - I never got a drop of rain. "They" are those typically incompetent weather forecasters who can never get it right, even when "they" do. Showers and thunderstorms do not cover every square inch of a forecast region and this was why "POP" or probability of precipitation was invented. A meteorologist needs a thick skin and a smile at all times.
If people could read the sky they might realize that those clouds on the northwest horizon were indeed multicell thunderstorms. There was sufficient wind shear in the atmosphere to cycle multiple updrafts through the flanking line and into the main event where they become the dominant updraft. After their twenty minutes of glory, each of these updrafts weaken and flow downstream into the anvil. Such was the case this afternoon. I half expected to see warnings issued when I went in to check the radar. At 2 pm the line of thunderstorms looked to be developing a line echo wave pattern which can be the signature for damaging winds.
The streets of cumulus ahead of the line of thunderstorms are typically aligned parallel to the boundary layer winds. This was true in this example although it was not a classic case as viewed on the visible satellite imagery.
I did not hear thunder as I painted so the thunderstorms had to be more than 20 kilometres away. Radar confirmed that they were actually about 40 kilometres distant.

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June 26th, 2015