Topographic influences on Amarillo radar echo climatology

A radar climatology within 185 km (100 nm) surrounding Amarillo, Texas, has been assembled for the spring convective season (May and June) from 1975 through 1978. The objective has been to obtain significant evidence supporting the importance of the Caprock escarpment in initiating convection. Included is a data extraction technique that accounts, in part, for range bias effects. Conditions favoring convection were identified in terms of synoptic patterns and use of daily sounding data from Amarillo. Semi-quantitative correlations of initial echo occurrences with topographic roughness has revealed four potential source regions favorable for convective development.