Convection precursors in the Czech territory

The goal of this study was to statistically assess the set of thermodynamic and dynamic precursors of significant convection, and above all the occurrence of convective precipitation. The radar maximum column reflectivity was used as a predictand characterizing the convective rainfall. The conditional probabilities for the occurrence of radar maximum reflectivity categories given precursor values were evaluated. This study also analyzes 73 significant convective phenomena from the years 1998–2001. The results indicate that most of deep convection was developed in an environment with unidirectional or clockwise-turning hodograph containing moderate or strong vertical wind shear. In contrast, the majority of downbursts or hailstorms were connected with unidirectional hodographs.