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WHY DO MID-LEVELS HAVE HIGHEST
RADAR REFLECTIVITY?

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

In the warm season thunderstorm environment, the PBL (surface to ~5,000 ft) is warmer than the middle (5,000 ft. to 30,000 ft) and upper levels (above 30,000 ft) of a thunderstorm. Much of the precipitation that reaches the surface from thunderstorms is in the form of rain. In the middle and upper levels of the storm, ice is much more common than in the low levels of the storm. Hail is at its greatest size in the middle and upper levels of a storm. Hailstones in the upper levels of storms will be frozen solid. As the hailstones fall into warmer above freezing air they will begin to melt. A melting hailstone has a reflectivity of a gigantic raindrop. Reflectivity from "wet" ice is much stronger than from "solid" ice. Many hailstones melt before reaching the surface. Thus, the region of the storm with the best combination of wet hailstones and large hailstones will have the highest reflectivity. This often occurs in the middle levels of a storm.