Imbalance in a Mesoscale Vortex within a Midlatitude, Continental Mesoscale Convective System

Abstract

The authors examine the degree of hydrostatic and gradient balances in a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) in the stratiform region of a mesoscale convective system (MCS) that crossed Oklahoma on 1 August 1996. Results indicate that the MCV was partially unbalanced because the cool layer at the base of its core was too cool and too shallow to balance the tangential winds about the MCV's axis. The apparent imbalance may have been due to strong, unsteady forcing on the vortex; insufficient or unrepresentative data; approximations used in the analysis; or reasons that are unknown.