Weather topic #2

 Every couple days I will post about a new weather topic! They are also available on my weather topics page!

Topic 2: what is CAPE?

In essence, CAPE is thunderstorm fuel. CAPE (convective available potential energy) is a measure of instability in the levels of the atmosphere. Typically, CAPE is measured in J/kg, which is joules per kilogram. Now, what is instability? Instability is as it sounds, an unstable airmass with large pockets of air interacting with other pockets of air and moving vertically very frequently. This creates energy, which fuels thunderstorms. These air pockets move vertically when there is a large difference in temperature as you go up in the atmosphere. That is why large supercellular thunderstorms are associated with very tall clouds, because the temperature difference is creating violent updrafts, that pulls the air upwards. Here in Washington state, thunderstorms often occur in the spring, when cold air aloft, moves over relatively warm air at the surface. Thanks for reading.