Numerical analysis of the influence of jets,fronts, and mountains on alpine lee cyclogenesis: More cases from the ALPEX SOP |
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| Authors: | J A McGinley M Zupanski |
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| Institution: | (1) Present address: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 S. Broadway, 80303 Boulder, Colorado, USA;(2) Present address: School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 200 Felgar, 73019 Norman, Oklahoma, USA |
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| Abstract: | Summary In a recently published work it was shown that Alpine cyclone development depends on a short wave trough upstream of the Alps, the presence of an upper-level jet streak in this trough, and a low-level front interacting with the mountain barrier. Specifically, by modifying the strength of the upper baroclinic zone (potential vorticity) or by decreasing the strength of the low-level baroclinic zone impinging on the Alps in an initial field, the intensity of the resulting numerically predicted cyclogenesis could be modulated. The major finding of the work was that the ALPEX cyclones reacted differently to upper-level and lower-level modification, providing a basis for broadly classifying storms: that is, dependence on upper-level processes and on low-level processes.The present work extends this study by considering additional cyclones that occurred during the ALPEX Special Observing Period (SOP), and describes the influence of upper-level and lower-level processes on each. An index (I) discussed in the previous paper is examined in terms of its relative value from case to case, and in terms of its value in a time-dependent sense during the lifetime of the storm. The results show that the most powerful lee cyclones depended more on the strength of the upper-level jet or potential vorticity than on the strength of the low-level front of baroclinic zone. In most cases the time evolution ofI showed the influence of the upper-level jet to be important during the early phase of development. The front is increasingly important in midlife as intensification takes place, and the jet is increasingly important during late life. These conclusions were reached during the earlier study but are supported by the additional SOP cyclone cases.Cyclone steering flow and the impinging of the storm on the Alps had a great impact on defining its character: storms with NW-N trajectories were heavily dependent on low level frontal strength and WSW-WNW trajectories were dominated by effects of the upper level jet.With 16 Figures |
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