Weather Words: CAPE

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While CAPE (when referring to weather) may not have the same definition as a superhero would use, in some ways, it does help give a thunderstorm superpowers.

CAPE is an acronym that stands for Convective Available Potential Energy. In other words, it’s the amount of fuel available to a developing thunderstorm. It’s an important number meteorologists use when determining the potential for strong thunderstorms. If the level of CAPE in the atmosphere is high, then that means the atmosphere is more unstable and could support strong thunderstorm development.

However, depending on the location and the time of year, those values can be determined differently. For example, in the Plains, a value under 1000 would be considered very weak instability in the Spring or Fall, however, would be a little more impressive in the middle of winter.

So while there’s a sliding scale for CAPE and it’s just one tool in the toolbox for meteorologists, it does come in quite handy when forecasting the severe weather potential.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.