The Lemon technique is a method used by meteorologists using weather radar to determine the relative strength of thunderstorm cells in a vertically sheared environment. It is named for Leslie R. Lemon , the co-creator of the current conceptual model of a supercell . ^[1] The Lemon technique is largely a continuation of work by Keith A. Browning , who first identified and named the supercell. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The method focuses on updrafts and uses weather radar to measure quantities such as height ( echo tops ), reflectivity (such as morphology and gradient), and location to show features and trends described by Lemon. ^{[5] [6]} These features include:

• Updraft tilt - The tilted updraft (vertical orientation) of the main updraft is an indication of the strength of the updraft, with nearly vertical tilts indicating stronger updrafts.
• Echo overhang - In intense thunderstorms, an area of very strong reflectivity atop the weak echo region and on the low-level inflow inside side of the storm. ^[7]
• Weak echo region (WER) - An area of markedly lower reflectivity, resulting from an increase in updraft strength. ^[8]
• Bounded weak echo region (BWER) - Another area of markedly lower reflectivity, now bounded by an area of high reflectivity. This is observed as a "hole" in reflectivity, and is caused by an updraft powerful enough to prevent ice and liquid from reaching the ground. This powerful updraft is often an indication of, or is facilitated by, a mesocyclone . A mesocyclone is not strictly necessary for BWER development. Storm rotation can be reliably detected by the Doppler velocities of a weather radar . ^[9]
• Descending reflectivity core

See also [ edit ]

• Convective storm detection

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Paul Sirvatka and Les Lemon The Lemon Technique ? College of DuPage Meteorology ( HTML version )
• The Lemon Technique (LT) to determine updraft strength ( University of Illinois )