Show simple item record

contributor authorBergmaier, Philip T.;Geerts, Bart;Campbell, Leah S.;Steenburgh, W. James
date accessioned2018-01-03T11:03:00Z
date available2018-01-03T11:03:00Z
date copyright3/29/2017 12:00:00 AM
date issued2017
identifier othermwr-d-16-0462.1.pdf
identifier urihttp://138.201.223.254:8080/yetl1/handle/yetl/4246564
description abstractAbstractIntense lake-effect snowfall results from a long-lake-axis-parallel (LLAP) precipitation band that often forms when the flow is parallel to the long axis of an elongated body of water, such as Lake Ontario. The intensity and persistence of the localized precipitation along the downwind shore and farther inland suggests the presence of a secondary circulation that helps organize such a band, and maintain it for some time as the circulation is advected inland. Unique airborne vertical-plane dual-Doppler radar data are used here to document this secondary circulation in a deep, well-organized LLAP band observed during intensive observing period (IOP) 2b of the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign. The circulation, centered on a convective updraft, intensified toward the downwind shore and only gradually weakened inland. The question arises as to what sustains such a circulation in the vertical plane across the LLAP band. WRF Model simulations indicate that the primary LLAP band and other convergence zones observed over Lake Ontario during this IOP were initiated by relatively shallow airmass boundaries, resulting from a thermal contrast (i.e., land-breeze front) and differential surface roughness across the southern shoreline. Airborne radar data near the downwind shore of the lake indicate that the secondary circulation was much deeper than these shallow boundaries and was sustained primarily by rather symmetric solenoidal forcing, enhanced by latent heat release within the updraft region.
publisherAmerican Meteorological Society
typeJournal Paper
journal volume145
journal issue7
journal titleMonthly Weather Review
identifier doi10.1175/MWR-D-16-0462.1
journal fristpage2437
journal lastpage2459
treeMonthly Weather Review:;2017:;volume( 145 ):;issue: 007
contenttypeFulltext


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record