Figure 5-3.-Forecasting afternoon convective cloudiness.
Figure 5-4 shows the formation of clouds due to
. The positive area must exceed the negative area;
mechanical lifting. This figure shows the formation of
the greater the excess, the greater the possibility of
a stratified layer of clouds above the LCL, and to the
thunderstorms,
LFC. At the LFC and above, the clouds would be
turbulent. The tops of the clouds extend beyond the top
l There must be sufficient lifting for the parcel to
of the positive area due to overshooting, just as clouds
reach the LFC, The frontal slope or the orographic
formed due to heating.
barriers can be used to determine how much lifting can
To determine the possibility of thunderstorms
be expected,
from this method, the following conditions should be
l The parcel must reach the ice crystal level (–10°C
met:
and below).
5-6
