A case study of a severe hailstorm in central Argentina during the RELAMPAGO-CACTI field campaign

ALVAREZ IMAZ MILAGROS; CANCELADA MAITE; SALIO PAOLA V.; BECHIS HERNAN; GALLIGANI VICTORIA; MALDONADO PAULA; SIMONE INES; PISCITELLI FRANCO M.

Karlsruhe

Workshop; 3rd European Hail Workshop; 2021

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks and the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern, together with the weather services MeteoSwiss and the German Weather Service

Storms in central Argentina are known for producing large and severe hail. Environmental conditions and strong interaction with topography in this region provide unique conditions for the initiation and intensification of severe storms. RELAMPAGO (Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations) and CACTI (Clouds, Aerosols, and Complex Terrain Interactions) field campaigns deployed between October 2018 to April 2019 over west-central Argentina have collected unprecedented periods of intensive observation in the region. During the Intense Observation Period (IOP) number 10, 4 cm diameter hail was reported over wide areas of Mendoza. Multiple soundings, DOW observations, local radar data together with ABI and GLM sensors onboard of GOES-16 are available with high temporal resolution. This was the first time that this kind of severe hailstorm was observed and measured with detailed information in the region.High-temporal frequency soundings and surface observations collected prior to the convection initiation are analyzed, allowing a detailed description of the storm environment. The establishment of the upslope flow and the role of boundary layer processes that resulted in the development of the severe hailstorm are also analyzed. In addition, several GOES-16 ABI and GLM derived products are investigated, in order to test their ability to forecast convective initiation and hail proxies in the region.