Hook echoes are not always obvious. In the U.S. Southern states, thunderstorms tend to produce heavier rainfall which obscures the hook shape.
Hook Echo - A radar pattern sometimes observed in the southwest quadrant of a tornadic thunderstorm.
Hook echo
(or hook) A radar reflectivity pattern characterized by a hook-shaped extension of a thunderstorm echo, usually in the right-rear part of the storm (relative to its direction of motion).
HOOK ECHO A radar reflectivity pattern observed in a thunderstorm, appearing like a fish hook and indicating favorable conditions for tornadic development. However, hook echoes and tornadoes do not always accompany each other.
Hook echo A distinctive radar pattern that often indicates the presence of a severe thunderstorm cell and perhaps tornadic circulation.
Hook or Hook Echo A pendant or hook on the right rear of a radar echo that often identifies mesocyclones on the radar display.
Hook Echo:
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Advection - Transport of an atmospheric property by the wind.
Pendant EchoRadar signature generally similar to a hook echo, except that the hook shape is not as well defined.
Locating Tornadoes hook echoes and velocity couplets
Tornadoes are often located at the center of a hook-shaped echo on the southwest side of thunderstorms. The hook is best observed in the reflectivity field.
Hook Echo: A pattern on a radar scope which resembles a hook often associated with a tornado.
Horizon: A distant point from the observer where the sky and the ground meet.
Horse Latitudes: An area of calm winds at about 30 degs.
CLASSIC SUPERCELL - A supercell with "text-book" like features such as a well-defined hook echo on a radar scope and the precipitation core downwind of the wall cloud and rain free storm base.
This area often coincides with a radar hook echo and/or mesocyclone, especially one associated with an HP storm. The term reflects the danger involved in observing such an area visually, which must be done at close range in low visibility.
Bear's Cage - [Slang], a region of storm-scale rotation, in a thunderstorm, which is wrapped in heavy precipitation. This area often coincides with a radar hook echo and/or mesocyclone, especially one associated with an HP storm.
NOAA National Weather Service - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: Energy Helicity Index, Hook Echo, HP Storm, LP Storm, Supercell, Supercell Thunderstorm, Tilted Storm, Tilted Updraft ...
 See also: Storm, Radar, Thunder, Thunderstorm, Hook
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