A mesoscale study of Texas South Plains convective systems

A mesoscale investigation of the properties of four days which had varying degrees of convective activity in the Texas South Plains region has been performed. The four days were classified into categories based on intensity and organization of the convection. The categories had been developed through previous research performed on HIPLEX data sets. Mesoscale analysis techniques, including the time change of potential buoyant energy, lifting condensation level, and lifted index plots, wind and equivalent potential temperature vertical profiles, average sounding plots, and moisture divergence computations, were employed in the search for the distinguishing meteorological characteristics in each case. Synoptic scale observations consisted of National Weather Service (NWS) surface and upper air maps, and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-EAST) imagery.

The results indicate that each classification did have a unique set of properties on the mesoscale. It is also shown that the parameters of 9e, PBE, LCL and wind velocity were superior in explaining the meteorological differences among the categories.

Although only a limited number of case studies have been undertaken here, insight has been gained in the understanding of the mesoscale characteristics of convectively driven precipitation events over the Texas South Plains.