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Storms Roaring Through the Night
These nightmares are known as mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). Unlike other thunderstorms, MCSs are long-lived, and huge. The squall line of an entire system can be more than 145 km (90 miles) long and travel across several Midwestern states during its lifespan. At their worst, these storms may recur each night with startling ferocity, dumping over 200 mm (almost eight inches) of rainwater along swathes 1000 km (620 miles) long. Smaller scale components called bow echoes can cause exceptional damage as they produce fierce winds, sometimes over 100 knots (115 mph), and spawn tornadoes. During the summer of 2003, NCAR scientists Christopher Davis and Morris Weisman are being joined by many other researchers to take a first-hand look at these massive thunderstorms during the Bow Echo and MCV Experiment (BAMEX). Their research is focusing on two aspects of these massive storms: the mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs), which may cause monstrous storms to come back to life night after night, and the dynamics of bow echos, which produce violent winds. The researchers hope to garner a better understanding of how these storms become so furious and how weather forecasters can better predict when one might stir up in the night. Read on to learn about how
and why these massive storms wield the power they do. |
Some
of the world's largest thunderstorm clusters rumble through the U.S. Midwest
during warm summer nights, leaving trails of destruction in their wake.
Each storm complex typically develops in the late afternoon and can last
all night, dumping massive amounts of rain, flattening trees and houses
with hurricane-strength winds, and even spawning tornadoes.