- Radar image of a bow echo crossing Kansas City at 2:14 AM on 2 May 2008 (NWS Kansas City). A bow echo is the characteristic radar return from a mesoscale convective...
- The definition of a bow echo is relatively straightforward. It is a convective system that resembles the shape of an archer’s bow.
- The term "bow echo" is based on how bands of rain showers or thunderstorms "bow out" when the storm's strong winds reach the surface and spread horizontally.
- A "bow echo" or "bowing line segment" is an arched/bowed out line of thunderstorms, sometimes embedded within a squall line.
- Radars can also help forecasters find which storms contain dangerous winds, and that is where a "bow echo" comes into play.
- Bow echoes, when they occur, usually occur with a grouping of multicell storms that are arranged into a squall line. The upper tropospheric winds steer storms.
- Types of windstorms which are responsible for damaging surface wind can vary widely, bow echo has long been recognized as one of the classical one.
- A bow echo is the characteristic radar return from a mesoscale convective system that is shaped like an archer’s bow.
- Bow echoes usually arise from a cluster of storms, but also may begin from just a single supercell thunderstorm. What does bow echo look like on radar?
