Organization and Structure of Clouds and Precipitation on the Mid-Atlantic Coast of the United States. Part V: The Role of an Upper-Level Front in the Generation of a Rainband

Abstract

The origins of a rainband of moderate intensity that occurred over the eastern Carolinas is investigated. It is concluded that the band formed in the updraft portion of a thermodynamically direct vertical circulation about an upper-level frontal zone in a region of conditional symmetrical instability (CSI). The release of CSI is presumed to have been responsible for the dimensions of the band and its orientation relative to the shear vector. An adiabatic mechanism for destabilization of the environment of the upper-level front to CSI was explored but found to be insignificant in this case.