DEPENDENCE OF CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION PATTERNS ON VERTICAL WIND SHEAR.

Radar observations of convective storms have identified a wide variety of storm types and storm features based on the structure and evolution of reflectivity patterns. Characteristic reflectivity patterns are often observed for isolated supercells, split supercells, organized and disorganized multicells, and various types of squall lines. Frequently observed reflectivity features within each storm have received identifying names, such as hook echo, bow echo, (bounded) weak echo region, V-notch, etc. Both observational and numerical studies suggest that many of these characteristic reflectivity patterns occur under specific environmental conditions. In particular, vertical shear of the environmental wind has been identified as an important factor in determining observed and modeled storm structure. Refs.