Thermodynamic and Vertical Velocity Structure of Two Gust Fronts Observed with a Wind Profiler/RASS during MCTEX

Abstract

High-time-resolution wind profiler/RASS observations are used to describe the vertical velocity, temperature, and reflectivity fields of two gust fronts in detail. The first was a freely propagating gust front and the second interacted with a rain cell near the profiler site. The first of these shows a large updraft confined to the warm air ahead of the front. This updraft coincided with the (nonhydrostatic) pressure jump. The vertical motions within the gust front were an order of magnitude smaller. The updraft impinging on the top of the boundary layer excited a clear gravity wave signature in the free troposphere. The interaction of the vertical circulation and the weakly precipitating cloud in the second case coincided with explosive growth of the cell with reflectivities increasing from ?30 dBZ to >50 dBZ in 6 min. A descending reflectivity core was observed at this time. Precipitation loading played a significant role in a downdraft behind the gust front head leading to adiabatic warming as no evidence of evaporative cooling in the downdraft was seen. A distinct clear air peak was visible in the profiler Doppler spectra even during the heavy rain.