Yesterday afternoon there was widespread, high-based convection over many parts of Arizona. Widespread smoke was also obscuring the skies over large areas of the Southwest from a number of wildfires. Many high temperatures were broken - for example, Winslow reached 107 F, breaking the old record by 4 F. Tucson reached a high of 110 F.
Small amounts of CAPE continue to be present over much of the Southwest and the Tucson morning sounding is shown above. The wind flow is reasonably strong, and middle level temperatures are still cool. However, the lack of low-level moisture puts a serious constraint on convection, There is a distinct middle and low-level inverted trough moving into southeastern Arizona today, and there will be widespread anvil cloud again this afternoon. High-based convection, virga, downbursts, dust, and sprinkles of rain will again be the weather word for this afternoon.
The last few days have provided a nice example of how the middle-level anticyclone and winds can become favorable for storms and act to increase middle-level moisture, But serious thunderstorm activity awaits an influx of mT air and low-level moisture from western Mexico and the Gulf of California
No comments:
Post a Comment