May 6, 1995
Vortex NCAR Aircraft Mission #5
Takeoff time - 2028 UTC
Landing Time - 0119 UTC
Flight Track:
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Summary:
The Electra and P-3 flew to the Texas Panhandle to search for the dryline.
The Electra first headed south over Frederick before descending at 2105 UTC
to 1000' AGL. After reaching the 34 degree latitude, the Electra flew to
the west before intercepting the dryline at 101 degrees (equivalent
potential temperature drop of approx. 10 K, windshift from southeasterly to
southerly).
At 2120 UTC, a coordinated convection initiation pattern was flown with the
P-3 centered at 35 and 101 degrees and the Electra performing a box around
this midpoint. The north-south legs were approximately 60 km long. We
also tried to maintain a distance from the dryline of approx. 6-10 km.
Ground teams launched balloons on both sides of the dryline and drove the
Probes through the dryline. Small cumulus clouds with no vertical
development developed along the dryline.
Operations terminated at 0011 UTC.
Roger Wakimoto
