May 11, 2003

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Speaker Notes:

Unlike September 29, the May 11, 2003 event featured short lines of convection, instead of a long line. Severe reports on this day were limited. A more detailed examination of this case indicated that there was a very strong cap observed at the PIT RAOB site during the early afternoon. This cap likely moved northeast across Pennsylvania and southern New York, and acted to inhibit convective development. Recall from earlier in this presentation that convective development on December 1st was initially restricted to short-lines of storms as a weaker, but still significant cap moved northeast from southwest Pennsylvania. The key difference between May 11, 2003 and December 1, 2006 may have been that cooling aloft on December 1st occurred soon enough to allow for the short lines to evolve into a better organized and more damaging convective system