SYNOPSIS FOR 6/7/94 - VORTEX 94

A broad ridge dominated the cntrl plains with trofs in the west and the east.  
The stgst trof was entering the Pac nw with a shrp polar jet at 500 mb xtndg 
acrs nrn CA, nrn NE, nrn UT and then curving shrply into nwrn WY and 
ern MT at 00Z on the 8th.  Another wkr band of mdt 500 mb wind curved 
anticyclonically acrs nern CO and nrn KS, with sharp difluence btwn this 
feature and the polar jet  ... this band of stgr winds was not apparent at 12Z 
and appears to have played a sig role in the dvlpmt of a tornadic supercell in 
nern CO and nwrn KS.  Within the VORTEX ops area, a stg lid suppressed 
any cnvctv actvty alg the dryln, with 700 temps of 14-16 deg C, in spite of 
hi sfc temps and mdt wrly sfc winds bhnd the dryln.  It appears that the sfc 
winds ahd of the dryln veered slgtly to sswrly, reducing the cnvrgnc assctd 
with the dryln ... and dvlpg a N-S confluence zone in cntrl OK due to sserly 
flow in ern OK.  This feature did not appear to hv any significance, hwvr.  
An MCS propagated sewd acrs ern KS, swrn MO, and into AR, lvg an 
outflow bndry bhnd but the lid prevented any sig cnvctv dvlpmts in the ops 
area.  Xtrmly hi lapse rates were assctd with the lid ovr most of the srn 
plns, and a narrow band of deep mstr was indcted at 850 mb by 00Z fm 
cntrl TX and OK and then curving cyclonically towards nwrn KS, where lo 
lvl erly flow produced hi helicity hodographs that combined with the 
enhanced winds alf to give a quite fvrbl environment for supercells.  
CAPES were quite hi (on the order of 6000 J per kg) in asscn with the 
capped area, but this instblty was not realized except in nwrn KS. 

Doswell