Vaughan, G, Antonescu, B, Schultz, DM et al. (1 more author) (2017) Invigoration and Capping of a Convective Rainband ahead of a Potential Vorticity Anomaly. Monthly Weather Review, 145 (6). pp. 2093-2117. ISSN 0027-0644
Abstract
Deep convection frequently occurs on the eastern side of upper-level troughs, or potential vorticity (PV) anomalies. This is consistent with uplift ahead of a cyclonic PV anomaly, and consequent reduction in static stability and increase of convective available potential energy (CAPE). Nevertheless, the causal link between upper-level PV and deep convection has not been proven, and given that lift, moisture, and instability must all be present for deep convection to occur it is not clear that upper-level forcing is sufficient. In this paper a convective rainband that intensified ahead of a cyclonic PV anomaly in an environment with little CAPE (~10 J kg−1) is examined to determine the factors responsible for its intensification. The key feature was a low-level convergence line, arising from the remnants of an occluded front embedded in the low-level cyclonic flow. The rainband’s intensity and morphology was influenced by the remnants of a tropopause fold that capped convection at midlevels in the southern part of the band, and by a reduction in upper-level static stability in the northern part of the band that allowed the convection to reach the tropopause. Ascent ahead of the trough appears to have played only a minor role in conditioning the atmosphere to convection: in most cases the ascending airstream had previously descended in the flow west of the trough axis. Thus, simple “PV thinking” is not capable of describing the development of the rainband, and it is concluded that preexisting low-level wind and humidity features played the dominant role.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 American Meteorological Society. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Ageostrophic circulations; Convection lines; Convergence/divergence; Deep convection; Mesoscale processes; Potential vorticity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2019 14:17 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jan 2019 14:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Meteorological Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1175/MWR-D-16-0397.1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:140959 |