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Critical Fire Weather in the West; Monitoring Tropical Storm Erin

Gusty winds and low relative humidity will bring critical fire weather conditions to parts of the Great Basin, interior Northwest, and Rockies Thursday. Red Flag Warnings have been issued. While there is still uncertainty in what impacts might occur to the U.S. east coast next week, the risk of dangerous surf and rip currents across the western Atlantic basin is increasing. Read More >

Automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy.

 

Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy.
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4 Panel Display | Animated Loop

CAPE 

This is a surface based Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) measurement only.  In the cool season, elevated instability may be much higher than surface based cape.

On average, CAPE of 1000 J/Kg is usually sufficient for strong to severe storms. CAPE of 3,000 to 4,000 J/Kg or higher is usually a signal of a very volatile atmosphere that could produce severe storms if other environmental parameters are in place.

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