Overshooting top

The strong updrafts delineated by overshooting tops can act as a barrier against the surrounding flow of air.

Fast stratospheric winds may rise slightly upon encountering overshooting tops, cooling and producing a turbulent wake of cooler temperatures downstream of the updraft.

This interaction also sheds ice and water vapor from the anvil cloud, forming a plume of cirrus emanating from the updraft region,[6][7] though this is most evident in mid-latitude environments where the tropopause is typically lower and the associated inversion wider.

Termed above-anvil cirrus plumes (AACP), the emergence of such features on satellite imagery have been associated with severe weather events.

[9] Simulations suggest that overshooting tops behave like hydraulic jumps in the presence of strong winds aloft, allowing the transport of over 7 t (7.7 tons) of water vapor into the lower stratosphere per second.

An overshooting top protruding above the anvil at the top of a thunderstorm
Overshooting top of a cumulonimbus viewed from a plane crossing the Democratic Republic of Congo. Airliners typically fly at an altitude ranging from 10 km to 13 km, at the tropopause.
Photograph of the top of a cumulonimbus cloud
Cirrus plumes in the wake of overshooting tops may be indicators of severe weather
Diagram of a supercell thunderstorm, which shows the overshooting top rising above the anvil cloud.