Possibility of thunderstorms next week perhaps Monday and Tuesday. Two convective weather indexes are showing the potential for some good thunderstorm activity. The lifted Index and Convective Available Potential Energy. Below is a brief ex...planation of the two indexes mentioned. There are other things to look at as well, but for now I will just talk about the following.
Lifted Index is the difference in temperature of a parcel of air that is lifted to particular height compared to it's surrounding environment. Positive values indicate stable atmospheric conditions. Negative values indicate instability. The greater the negative value, the more unstable the atmosphere is.
Convective Available Potential Energy or CAPE is the amount of energy a parcel of air would have if lifted to a certain height in the atmosphere. The higher the number the more energy that parcel of air has to lift. Values over 2500 are generally associated with severe weather.
There is also Convective Inhibition or CIN. This is basically the opposite of CAPE and inhibits convection from taking place or slows it down due to a temperature inversion near the surface. When CIN values are very negative (at least -100 or greater) air cannot rise past the inversion layer or the CAP. If CIN values are small (about -25 or so), convection may have enough energy to push through the inversion layer and thunderstorms will develop.
Lifted Index is the difference in temperature of a parcel of air that is lifted to particular height compared to it's surrounding environment. Positive values indicate stable atmospheric conditions. Negative values indicate instability. The greater the negative value, the more unstable the atmosphere is.
Convective Available Potential Energy or CAPE is the amount of energy a parcel of air would have if lifted to a certain height in the atmosphere. The higher the number the more energy that parcel of air has to lift. Values over 2500 are generally associated with severe weather.
There is also Convective Inhibition or CIN. This is basically the opposite of CAPE and inhibits convection from taking place or slows it down due to a temperature inversion near the surface. When CIN values are very negative (at least -100 or greater) air cannot rise past the inversion layer or the CAP. If CIN values are small (about -25 or so), convection may have enough energy to push through the inversion layer and thunderstorms will develop.
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