Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

Dangerous, prolonged heat is ongoing in the Mid-South to Mid-Mississippi Valley and heat expands into the Northeast for a brief period today. Widely scattered instances of flash flooding due to heavy rains are forecast from northeast Kansas to much of Indiana. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across parts of New England, northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Read More >

Automatically generated image showing areas of convective inhibition.


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4 Panel Display | Animated Loop

CIN

The image is a surface based measurement of Convective INhibition (CIN) or what is sometimes more commonly referred to as the strength of the cap. The value is capped off at 500 J/KG. In cases where there is no surface based CAPE available this parameter is set to 500 J/KG.

The yellow contours are the Lid Strength Index (LSI). This is another measure of how strong the cap is. It shows the thermal difference between a lifted surface parcel and the warmest part of the cap. Higher values indicate a more stable layer.

In general, the Cap is said to be breakable when CIN is 30 J/Kg or less and/or the LSI is 2 degrees or less. A negative LSI is rare, but is indicative of freely buoyant low level instability.

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Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

ConvectiveParameters - CIN