Lines or complexes of thunderstorms can have far greater impacts than a single storm. Hear from experts about these monster events, field campaigns to study them, and their future in a warming climate.
When thunderstorms organize into large complexes or powerful lines, they can produce widespread severe weather, rainfall, and cloud cover, far greater than any single storm cell. Widespread high winds (as in bow echoes and derechos), flooding rains, intense lightning, hail, and tornadoes are all products of these giant atmospheric machines that we call Mesoscale Convective Systems. They often last through the night, fed by rivers of warm, moist air. They rock the landscape and the atmosphere with an organized overturning of the air mass. Field studies like BAMEX (Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment) and PECAN (Plains Elevated Convection at Night) have contributed much to our understanding of these monster events, but there is still more to be learned. And, as the atmosphere warms, what might the future hold for these systems? Hear from the experts as they take us on a tour of the present and future.