Summer Season Convective Initiation – Students as Independent Researchers

Convective activity occurs more commonly and frequently across the United States during the spring and summer (nominally, the period of May through September). While distribution of the activity has been examined both temporally (time of maximum activity and severity) and spatially (e.g., nationally as well as regional variations) to depict its characteristic time of occurrence and pattern, very limited improvements in its operational prediction have occurred (other than model parameterizations) in the 24 to 48 hour period versus during “nowcast” (e.g., less than 12 hours) or severe storms.