Evaluating Elevated Convection with the Downdraft Convective Inhibition

A method for evaluating the penetration of a stable layer by an elevated convective downdraft is discussed. Some controversy exists on the community’s ability to define truly elevated convection from surface-based convection. By comparing the downdraft convective inhibition (DCIN) to the downdraft convective available potential energy (DCAPE), we determine that downdraft penetration potential is progressively enabled as the DCIN is progressively smaller than the DCAPE; inversely as DCIN increases over DCAPE, so does the likelihood of purely elevated convection. Serial vertical soundings and accompanying analyses are provided to support this finding