An Analysis of the 500-mb and Surface Prognoses Issued by the National Meteorological Center During the March Storm of 1962

Abstract

An attempt is made to shed light on the mid-tropospheric and low-level developments during the period of the east coast storm of March 1962 by using of synoptic analysis and the operational forecasts of the National Meteorological Center. It is shown that the greater part of the changes at 500 mb were accounted for by the equivalent barotropic theory. Important baroclinic effects which were a consequence of the strong high-level jet stream and strong low-level cold advection contributed to the 500-mb development. The low-level cyclogenesis occurred in qualitative agreement with the theories of Sutcliffe and Petterssen.