Using the translation speed and vertical structure of gust fronts to infer buoyancy deficits within thunderstorm outflow

To quantify the relationship between outflow thermodynamic deficit and gust front structure, CM1 is applied as a two-dimensional cold pool model to assess the vertical slope of cold pools of varying strength in different configurations of ambient shear.

The model was run with both free-slip and semislip lower boundary conditions and the results were compared to observations of severe thunderstorm outflow captured by the Texas Tech University Ka-band mobile radars. Simulated cold pools in the free-slip model achieve the propagation speeds predicted by cold pool theory, while cold pool speeds in the semislip model propagate slower. Density current theory is applied to the observed cold pools and predicts the cold pool speed to within about 2 m s(-1).