Dry Lines

[breeze]

Thought I'd pick some heads, today!

We hear the mets talk about dry lines, and,
explosive storms occuring along them.
What exactly is a dry line?

Thanks!

[Stormsfury]

A dryline generally is a hot, dry wind coming from the west (usually the desert regions of the Southwest) which clashes with the warm, moist unstable air (usually drawn in from the south or southeast).

Air in front of the dryline can have dewpoints in the 70's and behind the dry line, dewpoints can be as low as the teens and 20's.

Detailed info.
http://k12.ocs.ou.edu/teachers/lessons/dryline.html

[ColdFront77]

Drylines can be fun to observe. As Mike mentioned, dewpoint in the southwestern United States can be as low as the 20s and dewpoint readings ahead of the dry line over say Texas can be in the 70s.

Drylines are more commonly seen on surface weather maps from western Oklahoma into western Texas.

[breeze]

Thanks, Mike and Tom! That helps me understand it
quite well! So, the "clash" in the dewpoints causes
the cloud lift, resulting in those supercell thunderstorms
that occur in those regions.

I appreciate the replies!

[ColdFront77]

You're welcome, Annette.