STORM ON JUNE 22, 2013 IN INDJIJA (SERBIA) – A CONSEQUENCE OF HEAT WAVE

• Main Author: Nada Pavlović Berdon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Geographical Institute "Jovan Cvijić" SASA 2015-12-01
• Series: Zbornik Radova: Geografski institut "Jovan Cvijić"
• Subjects: heat wave, HP supercell, CAPE, hail, stormy wind
• Online Access: http://ojs.gi.sanu.ac.rs/index.php/zbornik/article/view/278

In the period between 16 and 22 June 2013, Europe was hit by a heat wave. At the end of the period characterized by extremely high temperatures, the development of storm along with supercell HP convection cell took place in Serbia, producing tennis ball-sized hailstones and wind with speed exceeding 35 m/s. This paper analyzes the underlying conditions that led to development of this storm using synoptic charts, vertical atmosphere characteristics as well satellite and radar images. The development of strong convective clouds was enabled by exceptional thermal instability of the atmosphere above the Pannonian Plain and the Balkans and warm subtropical air. The analysis of the vertical structure of atmosphere indicates that the separate convective cells could produce large amounts of precipitation and hailstones up to 8 cm in diameter. Cloudy zone, of the supercell type in development, of 12–16 km width, reached to 20 km height (cloud penetrated tropopause) and indicating extremely great energy instability. Furthermore, this analysis is supplemented with results of nonhydrostatic mesoscale NMM model. Big hailstones from this storm took life of 31 persons in addition to great material damage it caused.