Interactions between a Supercell and a Quasi-Stationary Frontal Boundary

Abstract

The case presented here is submitted as an example of a previously undocumented type of interaction between a supercell thunderstorm and a frontal boundary. During the afternoon of 8 June 1995, a supercell thunderstorm formed near a quasi-stationary frontal boundary and then moved northeast across Beaver County in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Its motion took it away from the boundary and deeper into the cool air. As the storm matured and strengthened, a portion of the boundary to the south of the supercell moved northward and briefly became entrained in the low-level circulation of the storm. This northward advance of the boundary was subsequently followed by a southward motion back to near its original location. High-density spatial and temporal observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet and the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX) Mobile Mesonetwork are presented to document the northward advance of the boundary into the supercell circulation.