METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY
There are two types of inflow notches that will be discussed which are the low level inflow
notch into the
updraft of a storm and the mid-level rear inflow notch into the back side of a storm. The
characteristic that both types of inflow notches have is that there tends to be reduced
reflectivity in the region they occur since the air is either too dry or is moving
too quickly to allow precipitation to develop or fall through this air.
First will be shown a couple of examples of inflow notches into a
supercell. Within the inflow
region is the updraft. There tends to be lower reflectivities in the updraft region and higher
reflectivities in the downdraft region. Within an inflow notch is the low level wind into the
updraft of the storm. A classic supercell will take on a hook like feature and an HP supercell
will take on a kidney bean feature. An example of each is shown below:
Classic Supercell
HP Supercell
A rear inflow notch enters the backside of a storm in the middle levels of the troposphere. These
inflow notches are particularly conducive to
severe weather if they ingest high momentum and
dry air into the storm. If the air is dry it will cool through evaporative cooling. This will
increase the negative buoyancy of the air and it will accelerate toward the earth's surface. This
negative buoyancy acceleration along with the air's initial high momentum can produce severe
convective wind gusts at the leading edge of the storm or storm complex. An example of a storm
complex with a rear inflow notch is shown below:
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