Severe Storm

Dear Colleagues,

Severe storm or local storm refers to weather phenomena with spatial sizes ranging from meso-gamma scale, to microscale, to convective scale. These storms develop in one or combined forms of thunderstorms and squalls, hailstorms, and tornadoes, as well as cases such as rainstorms, windstorms, and snowstorms. All these storms are high-impact weather systems, and in some parts of the world they severe damage and loss of infrastructure and even life every year. Given the small spatial scales of severe storms, their predictability is expected to be lower than the synoptic- and planetary-scale phenomena. However, regional climatology and specific environmental factors relevant to some of these storms are quite clear. Improvements in our forecasts of severe storms can only be obtained through a better understanding of the dynamics and physical processes of their development. This Special Issue aims to summarize the frontiers of research regarding severe storms. Studies in the following aspects are welcome.

Since in-situ observations are rare for these small-scale storm systems, observational platforms and techniques must be enhanced. Satellite instruments such as lightning sensors have been increasingly applied to monitor convective activities and storm developments.  Spaceborne radar is also improving in spatial resolution to observe precipitation. On the ground, fixed and mobile radar systems are useful tools with which to observe storm structure. In particular, a mobile radar with a raindrop size analyzer is an excellent tool with which to discover new storm microphysics. For some local storms, special observation techniques are necessary. Examples include the hail pad to measure hailstone size, especially in population-scarce regions. With these enhanced observations, studies on storm dynamics and physical processes during development should be promoted. Numerical modeling with cloud-resolving scales is feasible with today’s computational resources. One of the most challenging aspects of this study is to perform mesoscale and convective-scale data assimilation on numerical models.

Although the climatology of various types of storm has been established in many parts of the world, we only have very basic knowledge of the environmental factors responsible for storm development. General metrics (or discriminants) have been developed in previous studies for measuring storm potential; however, as mentioned, the factors behind the storm metrics are highly region-specific, and thus many more regional studies should be conducted. Moreover, specific metrics (e.g., those for hail versus tornado) are yet to be developed. On a global scale, the climate is changing. The behavior of some synoptic-scale storms has already changed since the pre-industrial period. Similarly, the behavior of local storms is also expected to change. Projecting future local storm activity would impose many challenges on our research community. Do our climate models have high enough resolution to imply local storm activity? Are there downscaling techniques that can add value to climate models in terms of local storm projection? Do we have the right metrics of local storms to project the future storm environment? Topics such as these and related research questions would be excellent additions to our Special Issue.

Dr. Kevin K.W. Cheung
Guest Editor

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