Convective temperature
Encyclopedia
The convective temperature (CT or Tc) is the approximate temperature
that air near the surface must reach for cloud
formation without mechanical lift. In such case, cloud base
begins at the convective condensation level
(CCL), whilst with mechanical lifting, condensation
begins at the lifted condensation level
(LCL). Convective temperature is important to forecasting thunderstorm
development.
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
that air near the surface must reach for cloud
Cloud
A cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water and/or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body. They are also known as aerosols. Clouds in Earth's atmosphere are studied in the cloud physics branch of meteorology...
formation without mechanical lift. In such case, cloud base
Cloud base
This article refers to meteorology. For the airborne base of the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, see Cloudbase.The cloud base is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud...
begins at the convective condensation level
Convective condensation level
The convective condensation level represents the height where an air parcel becomes saturated when lifted adiabatically to achieve buoyant ascent. It marks where cloud base begins when air is heated from below to the convective temperature, without mechanical lift...
(CCL), whilst with mechanical lifting, condensation
Condensation
Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition....
begins at the lifted condensation level
Lifted condensation level
The lifted condensation level or lifting condensation level is formally defined as the height at which the relative humidity of an air parcel will reach 100% when it is cooled by dry adiabatic lifting...
(LCL). Convective temperature is important to forecasting thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
development.