Observations of Severe Turbulence near Thunderstorm Tops

Abstract

Data derived from the flight tapes of two airliners that experienced severe turbulence near thunderstorm tops are used to produce quantitative descriptions of the turbulence and its environment. The likely turbulence-producing processes include a three-dimensional turbulent wake in the lee of a squall line and an updraft in the top of a thunderstorm. Results suggest that current procedures for using surface and airborne weather radar for routing aircraft near thunderstorm tops should be reexamined. Also, although useful rules for safe flight near thunderstorm tops already exist, there is evidence that they are not universally applied.