STEPS dissects storm for over two hours

NSSL researchers stop for gasoline and to evaluate their storm intercept strategy in Canadian, Texas on the evening of June 13, 2000, while a supercell thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado approaches the town. Photo by Daphne Zaras NSSL researchers involved with the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) field program held operations on 27 days during an eight-week project near the Colorado-Kansas border. Scientists from nine institutions made a wide range of meteorological and electrical observations of supercell thunderstorms to better understand supercell physics. The most significant cases included two major downburst storms, two low-precipitation storms, two tornadic storms, and three supercells. One of the top cases of the project occurred on June 29 when STEPS observed a supercell thunderstorm for more than two hours. The storms were scrutinized by Doppler radar, four electronic field meter launches, T-28 aircraft penetrations, visual observations of precipitation and a tornado, mobile mesonet instrument readings, and supporting sounding measurements by several mobile sounding systems. The Lightning Mapping Array reported flash rates of one per second at times.

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