Figure 1. Radar reflectivity images showing different types of nocturnal convection initiation. The yellow outline indicates the  storms  associated with  the indicated type of initiation.

Preliminary analysis has been performed on all of the elevated convection initiation events (ECI) that occurred during PECAN.  The different types of ECI are shown in Figure 1. Other datasets are being examined in addition to radar data, including GOES water vapor imagery, GOES Super Rapid Scan imagery collected during the first two weeks of the experiment, surface stations,  449 MHz profiler data, profiles obtained from mobile platforms,  DIAL micro-pulse lidar, radar-derived Bragg-scattering profiles, and Wyoming King Air data.

Figure 2. Elevated convection initiation on 26 June 2015 at 0306 UTC.

A pristine ECI case on 4 July 2015 has been analyzed to understand the mechanisms leading up to the initiation of a hail-producing storm.  After examination of all the above datasets, an elevated shear zone appears to be the only feature present that may have triggered this isolated, nocturnal storm in western Kansas.

Another case of particular interest that is being analyzed is an ECI event that occurred on 25-26 June, arising from the isentropic lift of warm moist air by the Low Level Jet (LLJ) over a E-W stationary front in central Kansas. Two east-west bands of elevated convection formed simultaneously on the north (cooler) side of the front, as an MCS approached from the NW, as can be seen in Figure 2.  Another unusual aspect of this case was the secondary and tertiary ECI that occurred in the same vicinity two more times during the evening.  A model simulation is being run in conjunction with observational analyses to attempt to understand the initiation, structure and evolution of these storms.