| IPEX scientists at work | |||
Data collected during last winter's Intermountain Precipitation Experiment (IPEX) is being analyzed by NSSL, SPC and University of Utah scientists. Several projects are under way using this data to better understand orographic winter precipitation in the Intermountain West. Dave Rust took advantage of the opportunities provided by IPEX to collect electric field profiles in continental winter storms for the first time. Along with IPEX co-PI Jeff Trapp, Dave is comparing the profiles of electric-field measurements to coordinated radar scans from the Doppler-on-Wheels. Their results indicate maximum electric fields of 10-30 kV per meter, values substantially less than those in summer convective storms. An unusual killer squall line and tornadic bow echo that occurred in
Idaho and northern Utah on Valentine's Day is being investigated by
IPEX co-PI David Schultz, along with Trapp, SPC forecasters Jon Racy
and Jeff Evans, and Jim LaDue in WDTB. Schultz has compiled a climatology
of tornadoes in Idaho, showing this was the earliest tornado day in
Idaho during the past 51 years. They surmise the topographic channeling
of the low-level wind in the Snake River Valley helped to create the
conditions for tornadoes. These and other IPEX research results can
be found on the IPEX web page http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~schultz/ipex/.
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David Schultz|
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