Flanking line
From Glossary of Meteorology
flanking line
An organized lifting zone of cumulus and towering cumulus clouds, connected to and extending outward from the mature updraft tower of a supercell or strong multicell convective storm.
The flanking line often has a stair-step appearance, with the tallest clouds adjacent to the mature updraft tower.
Copyright 2022 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.
