Advantage of Modified NUCAPS

The modified NUCAPS soundings have shown significant improvement when compared to the operational NUCAPS soundings.

Here is an example where SBCAPE increased from 388 J/kg to 2770 J/kg in a modified NUCAPS sounding:

Even more significant is change in CINH from -533 J/kg to -27 J/kg--essentially going from a very strong (unbreakable) cap to a weakly capped environment.

Thunderstorms rapidly intensified as they moved into the environment sampled by the sounding.

Therefore, it seems reasonable that the modified sounding is a better representation of the thermodynamic environment than the operational sounding.

-Lost Met