Assessing the Impact of the Tropopause on Mountain Waves and Orographic Precipitation Using Linear Theory and Numerical Simulations

Abstract

he partial reflection of mountain waves at the tropopause has been studied extensively for its contribution to downslope windstorms, but its impact on orographic precipitation has not been addressed. Here linear theory and numerical simulations are used to investigate how the tropopause affects the vertical structure of mountain waves and, in turn, orographic precipitation. Relative to the no-tropopause case, wave-induced ascent above the windward slope of a two-dimensional ridge is found to be enhanced or diminished depending on the ratio of the tropopause height to the vertical wavelength of the mountain waves?defined here as the ?nondimensional tropopause height? . In idealized simulations of flow over both two-dimensional and three-dimensional ridges, variations in are found to modulate the precipitation rate by roughly a factor of 2 under typical atmospheric conditions. The sensitivity of precipitation to is related primarily to the depth of windward ascent but also to the location and strength of leeside descent, with significant impacts on the distribution of precipitation across the range (i.e., the rain-shadow effect). Using a modified version of Smith and Barstad?s orographic precipitation model, variations in are found to produce significant rain-shadow variability in the Washington Cascades, perhaps explaining some of the variability in rain-shadow strength observed among Cascade storms.