EXTREME WINDS IN HIGH-PRECIPITATION SUPERCELLS

EXTREME WINDS IN HIGH-PRECIPITATION SUPERCELLSHarold E. Brooks and Charles A. Doswell IIINOAA/ERL/National Severe Storms LaboratoryNorman, Oklahoma1. INTRODUCTIONSupercell thunderstorms produce thecomplete spectrum of hazardous weatherassociated with atmospheric convection:tornadoes, large hail, strong "straight-line" winds, lightning, and flash floods.Over the years, a significant amount ofattention has been paid by the researchand operational communities to theproblem of determining environmentswhich are favorable to the generation ofsupercells. In particular, a major focushas been on the forecasting of tornadoesand tornadic storms. Recently, Cum-mine et al. (1992) described a stormwhich inflicted major damage to thePakwash forest in Northwest Ontario,Canada. Approximately 1500 km