HECTIME – A brief introduction

31 October 2016

I am currently residing in Darwin, Australia, and figured it is about time that I write a post briefly explaining the ridiculousness I am up to. Basically it involves a LOT of hanging around in a coastal park in Nightcliff. HECTIME stands (loosely) for the HEctor the Convector TIme-lapse and Modelling Experiment. Hector is the name for a large thunderstorm, or thunderstorm complex that develops over the Tiwi Islands (Northern Territory, Australia) on most afternoons during the pre-monsoon season – October-November-December.

Comparing thunderstorm time-lapses with simulations

“Hector the Convector” is the name given to a thunderstorm that forms over the Tiwi Islands off the north coast of Australia near Darwin. I have tried some test Weather Research and Forecast (WRF, http://www.wrf-model.org ) simulations to see how nice a thunderstorm is produced.