TIROS AND RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER FLORIDA

Abstract

An east-west line of thunderstorms passed southward into the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida peninsula. A large complex with an extensive anvil developed over the Gulf. The cold air outflow to the south of this storm was visible to TIROS as a thin line of cumulus clouds. When the line passed over the northern Florida peninsula, very active convection cells developed which subsequently penetrated to heights near 50,000 ft. No new cells developed over the Atlantic so that the line ended near the eastern coast of Florida. North of the line on the Florida east coast, the west-northwest gradient wind, the sea breeze effect, and the thunderstorm outflow caused renewed convection which developed a secondary line. South of the primary line the sea breeze prevailed, causing a line of cumulus clouds quite apparent on the TIROS photographs. TIROS Channel 2 radiometer readings indicated that the storm over the Gulf had the highest cloud tops whereas radar measurements showed the towers over Florida were considerably higher than those over the Gulf. The apparent discrepancy is resolved by considering the field of view of the radiometer.