Forecast Exercise: Qualitative Skew-T Assessment

Hypothetical sounding for hail question

This skew-T diagram shows the morning sounding from a location in the Midwest in late spring. You can open the Interactive Skew-T with this sounding.

Evaluate this sounding to assess the potential for hail-producing thunderstorms later in the day.

As described on the previous page, to properly evaluate the sounding, we need to determine the following parameters:

Given the above sounding-derived parameters, write a short synopsis explaining the potential for hail later in the day. When you are satisfied with your response, click Expert Opinion for feedback.


Expert Opinion:
The sounding appears fairly unstable indicating favorable conditions for thunderstorms with hail later in the day. The convective condensation level of 910 hPa is not far from the wet-bulb zero level of 750 hPa, and the freezing level of 694 hPa, indicating that hail formation and development could take place over a considerable cloud depth from the freezing level on upward. The EL at 236 hPa indicates the likelihood of deep convection with high thunderstorm tops. The CAPE of 1924 J/kg is supportive of strong maximum updraft speeds approaching 62 m/s (Wmax = [2 * CAPE]0.5), which could support growth of large hail.
Previous       Next