Sandy Images

Forward air-parcel trajectories, seeded at 1000 m every 5 hours, starting at 1200 UTC 28 October 2012.  Key features include: rapid ascent of air parcels to the tropopause near the inner core and along the outer radius of Sandy and its western flank.  Sandy's >50 m/s anticyclonic outflow jet is highly asymmetric and is confined to the northwest quadrant.  Color indicates wind speed in m/s.

WRF-ARW maximum radar reflectivity overlaid with 1000 meter horizontal wind vectors. Key feature: maintenance of convection near the central core, and widespread convective and stratiform precipitation along the encircling outer wind maximum on the west and southwest flank of Sandy.  Color indicates radar reflectivity in DBZ units.  Discussed in Mel Shapiro's presentation at the AMS 2013 Townhall "A research-community perspective of the life cycle of Hurricane Sandy"

WRF-ARW cloud-top temperature overlaid with 1000 meter horizontal wind vectors.  Key features include: signature of dramatic anticyclonic outflow aloft on the western flank of Sandy and lower-tropospheric cyclonic cloud rotation and intermittent cold cloud top convective activity near inner core and outer cold air encirclement.  Grayscale indicates temperature in degrees C.  Discussed in Mel Shapiro's presentation at the AMS 2013 Townhall "A research-community perspective of the life cycle of Hurrica