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LP STORM [2 records]

Record 1 2005-05-11

English

Subject field(s)
  • Atmospheric, Climatic and Meteorological Phenomena
DEF

A supercell thunderstorm characterized by a relative lack of visible precipitation.

CONT

An LP supercell is characterized by a very long anvil, a small core region, a wall cloud at the back, and a thin precipitation curtain that usually lets some light through. Tornadoes can occur, but the main severe threat is usually large hail.

CONT

Visually similar to a classic supercell, except without the heavy precipitation core. LP storms often exhibit a striking visual appearance; the main tower often is bell-shaped, with a corkscrew appearance suggesting rotation. They are capable of producing tornadoes and very large hail. Radar identification often is difficult relative to other types of supercells, so visual reports are very important. LP storms almost always occur on or near the dry line, and thus are sometimes referred to as dry line storms.

CONT

LP supercells... have little VISIBLE precipitation and most regions of the storm base are visible. The word VISIBLE is stressed here because these storms often contain very large hail which does not block light as much as rain as if issues from the cloud. LP storms usually have a striking visual appearance with corkscrew or "barber-pole" striations on the updraft tower. LP supercell tornadoes are often unobscured from viewing around the storm. Sometimes called LP’er.

Key term(s)
  • low precipitation storm
  • dry line storm
  • LP'er

French

Domaine(s)
  • Phénomènes météorologiques, climatiques et atmosphériques
CONT

L'orage supercellulaire à faibles précipitations comporte une enclume très allongée, un petit noyau, un mur de nuages à l'arrière et un mince rideau de précipitations qui laisse habituellement filtrer de la lumière. Il peut présenter un risque de tornade, mais il se contente habituellement de produire de gros grêlons.

Spanish

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Record 2 2005-05-11

English

Subject field(s)
  • Atmospheric, Climatic and Meteorological Phenomena
DEF

A supercell with "text-book" like features such as a well-defined hook echo on a radar scope and the precipitation core downwind of the wall cloud and rain free storm base.

CONT

Supercell [is] a thunderstorm with a persistent rotating updraft. Supercells are rare, but are responsible for a remarkably high percentage of severe weather events-especially tornadoes, extremely large hail and damaging straight-line winds. They frequently travel to the right of the main environmental winds(i. e., they are right movers). Radar characteristics often(but not always) include a hook or pendant, bounded weak echo region(BWER), V-notch, mesocyclone, and sometimes a TVS [Tornado Vortex Signature]. Visual characteristics often include a rain-free base(with or without a wall cloud), tail cloud, flanking line, overshooting top, and back-sheared anvil, all of which normally are observed in or near the right rear or southwest part of the storm. Storms exhibiting these characteristics often are called classic supercells; however HP(High Precipitation) storms and LP(Low Precipitation) storms also are supercell varieties.

CONT

The severe version of a worst-last storm is also a supercell type, and is either called a "classic supercell"(the standard supercell type) or an "LP(low-precipitation) supercell"-a dry-weather, high wind shear version.... The classic supercell has a larger, darker appearance and accounts for most of the major tornado events everywhere.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Phénomènes météorologiques, climatiques et atmosphériques
CONT

Les orages de queue qui sont violents sont aussi de type supercellulaire; on les appelle des orages supercellulaires classiques ou à faibles précipitations (caractérisés par la présence d'air sec et d'un fort cisaillement du vent). [...] Les orages supercellulaires classiques sont de plus grande étendue et plus sombres; ce sont eux qui produisent la plupart des tornades, quelle que soit la région.

Spanish

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