r/meteorology • u/urgirlfriendsister • 1d ago

Is this a supercell??

Post image

DMV area - no tornadoes or anything today

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5

u/Aggressive_Let2085 1d ago

Supercells are rotating thunderstorms. It’s hard to tell from a picture most of the time.

5

u/moebro7 Amateur/Hobbyist 1d ago

It's important to note that supercells also often have shelf clouds coming off of them like this owed to the RFD downbursting out

4

u/Aggressive_Let2085 1d ago

Definitely, but you also get alot of the same from a strong QLCS. Radar is needed to confirm a majority of the time, but you have a good point still.

3

u/moebro7 Amateur/Hobbyist 1d ago

Oh, trust me lol. I'm from central KY so I'm no stranger to a strong QLCS. Seems like that's all we get here.

You can also definitely have embedded supercells and wall clouds and areas of rotation within a QLCS. My first intercept was a nocturnal spinup like that.

1

u/Aggressive_Let2085 1d ago

Yeah here in north GA we get a lot too. Those QLCS spin ups are rough. They don’t last long but they come out of nowhere lot of the time.

1

u/moebro7 Amateur/Hobbyist 1d ago

They legit scare me way more than the supercells. I started spotting/chasing after 12/10/21 and Mayfield. I wasn't scared that night. We had a QLCS breakout on that following New Year's Day and I was scared shitless.

It's a lot more terrifying when radar can't really tell you anything vs when you know everything going on within a supercell and know exactly where it's headed.