scholarly journals On the Dependence of Squall-Line Characteristics on Surface Conditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 2211-2228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Peters ◽  
Cathy Hohenegger
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Surface Conditions ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Squall Lines

Abstract The influence of surface conditions in the form of changing surface temperatures on fully developed mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) is investigated using a cloud-system-resolving setup of the Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model (1-km grid spacing). The simulated MCSs take the form of squall lines with trailing stratiform precipitation. After the squall lines have reached a quasi-steady state, secondary convection is triggered ahead of the squall line, resulting in an increase of squall-line propagation speed, also known as discrete propagation. The higher propagation speed is then maintained for the remainder of the simulations because secondary convection ahead of the squall line acts to reduce the environmental wind shear over the depth of the squall line’s cold pool. The surface conditions have only a marginal effect on the squall lines themselves. This is so because the surface fluxes cannot significantly affect the cold pool, which is continuously replenished by midtropospheric air. The midtroposphere remains similar given the use of identical initial profiles. The only effect of the surface fluxes consists in an earlier acceleration of the squall line due to earlier initiation of secondary convection with higher surface temperature. Finally, a conceptual model to estimate the change in surface temperature needed to achieve a change in onset time of prefrontal secondary convection and the associated discrete propagation events given the environmental conditions is presented.

Impact of Environmental Variations on Simulated Squall Lines Interacting with Terrain

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (10) ◽  
pp. 3163-3183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey E. Letkewicz ◽  
Matthew D. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Wind Profile ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Strong Convection ◽  
The Mean

Abstract The complex evolution of convective systems crossing (or attempting to cross) mountainous terrain represents a substantial forecasting challenge. This study examines the processes associated with environments of “crossing” squall lines (which were able to redevelop strong convection in the lee of a mountain barrier) and “noncrossing” squall lines (which were not able to redevelop strong convection downstream of the barrier). In particular, numerical simulations of mature convective systems crossing idealized terrain roughly approximating the Appalachian Mountains were used to test the first-order impact of variations in the vertical wind profile upon system maintenance. By itself, the wind profile showed no ability to uniquely discriminate between simulated crossing and noncrossing squall lines; each test revealed a similar pattern of orographic enhancement, suppression, and lee reinvigoration in which a hydraulic jump deepened the system’s cold pool and renewed the low-level lifting. Increasing the mean wind led to greater enhancement of vertical velocities on the windward side of the barrier and greater suppression on the lee side. Variations in the low-level shear influenced the temperature and depth of the outflow, which in turn altered the lifting along the system’s gust front. However, in all of the wind profile tests, convection redeveloped in the lee. Additional simulations explored more marginal environments in which idealized low-level cooling or drying stabilized the downstream environment. In most such tests, the systems weakened but the presence of CAPE aloft still enabled the systems to survive in the lee. However, the combination of a stronger mean wind with diminished CAPE and increased convective inhibition (CIN) was ultimately found to eliminate downstream redevelopment and produce a noncrossing mesoscale convective system (MCS). Within these experiments, the ability of a squall line to cross a barrier similar to the Appalachians is primarily tied to the characteristics of the downstream thermodynamic environment; however, as the lee thermodynamic environment becomes less favorable, the mean wind exerts a greater influence on system intensity and redevelopment.

scholarly journals Discrete Propagation in Numerically Simulated Nocturnal Squall Lines

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (12) ◽  
pp. 3735-3752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Fovell ◽  
Gretchen L. Mullendore ◽  
Seung-Hee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Radiative Processes ◽  
Squall Lines

Abstract Simulations of a typical midlatitude squall line were used to investigate a mechanism for discrete propagation, defined as convective initiation ahead of an existing squall line leading to a faster propagation speed for the storm complex. Radar imagery often shows new cells appearing in advance of squall lines, suggesting a causal relationship and prompting the search for an “action-at-a-distance” mechanism to explain the phenomenon. In the simulations presented, the identified mechanism involves gravity waves of both low and high frequency generated in response to the latent heating, which subsequently propagate out ahead of the storm. The net result of the low-frequency response, combined with surface fluxes and radiative processes, was a cooler and more moist lower troposphere, establishing a shallow cloud deck extending ahead of the storm. High-frequency gravity waves, excited in response to fluctuations in convective activity in the main storm, were subsequently ducted by the storm’s own upper-tropospheric forward anvil outflow. These waves helped positively buoyant cumulus clouds to occasionally form in the deck. A fraction of these clouds persisted long enough to merge with the main line, invigorating the parent storm. Discrete propagation occurred when clouds developed into deep convection prior to merger, weakening the parent storm. The ducting conditions, as diagnosed with the Scorer parameter, are shown to be sensitive to vertical wind shear and radiation, but not to the microphysical parameterization or simulation geometry.

scholarly journals Impacts of Stochastic Mixing in Idealized Convection-Permitting Simulations of Squall Lines

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (12) ◽  
pp. 4971-4994
Author(s):  
McKenna W. Stanford ◽  
Hugh Morrison ◽  
Adam Varble
Keyword(s):  
Squall Line ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Multiplicative Factor ◽  
Mesoscale Structure ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Mixing Coefficients ◽  
Horizontal Mixing ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Inflow Jet

AbstractThis study investigates impacts of altering subgrid-scale mixing in “convection-permitting” kilometer-scale horizontal-grid-spacing (Δh) simulations by applying either constant or stochastic multiplicative factors to the horizontal mixing coefficients within the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. In quasi-idealized 1-km Δh simulations of two observationally based squall-line cases, constant enhanced mixing produces larger updraft cores that are more dilute at upper levels, weakens the cold pool, rear-inflow jet, and front-to-rear flow of the squall line, and degrades the model’s effective resolution. Reducing mixing by a constant multiplicative factor has the opposite effect on all metrics. Completely turning off parameterized horizontal mixing produces bulk updraft statistics and squall-line mesoscale structure closest to an LES “benchmark” among all 1-km simulations, although the updraft cores are too undilute. The stochastic mixing scheme, which applies a multiplicative factor to the mixing coefficients that varies stochastically in time and space, is employed at 0.5-, 1-, and 2-km Δh. It generally reduces midlevel vertical velocities and enhances upper-level vertical velocities compared to simulations using the standard mixing scheme, with more substantial impacts at 1- and 2-km Δh compared to 0.5-km Δh. The stochastic scheme also increases updraft dilution to better agree with the LES for one case, but has less impact on the other case. Stochastic mixing acts to weaken the cold pool but without a significant impact on squall-line propagation. It also does not affect the model’s overall effective resolution unlike applying constant multiplicative factors to the mixing coefficients.

How does vertical wind shear influence entrainment in squall lines?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake P. Mulholland ◽  
John M. Peters ◽  
Hugh Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Boundary Shear ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Outflow Boundary

AbstractThe influence of vertical wind shear on updraft entrainment in squall lines is not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, a suite of high-resolution idealized numerical model simulations of squall lines were run in various vertical wind shear (hereafter “shear”) environments to study the effects of shear on entrainment in deep convective updrafts. Low-level horizontal mass flux into the leading edge of the cold pool was strongest in the simulations with the strongest low-level shear. These simulations consequently displayed wider updrafts, less entrainment-driven dilution, and larger buoyancy than the simulations with comparatively weak low-level shear. An analysis of vertical accelerations along trajectories that passed through updrafts showed larger net accelerations from buoyancy in the simulations with stronger low-level shear, which demonstrates how less entrainment-driven dilution equated to stronger updrafts. The effects of upper-level shear on entrainment and updraft vertical velocities were generally less pronounced than the effects of low-level shear. We argue that in addition to the outflow boundary-shear interactions and their effect on updraft tilt established by previous authors, decreased entrainment-driven dilution is yet another beneficial effect of strong low-level shear on squall line updraft intensity.

The diurnal cycle can trigger convective self-aggregation 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorm Gruner Jensen ◽  
Romain Fiévet ◽  
Jan O. Haerter
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Atmospheric Sciences ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Mesoscale Convective ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Self Aggregation

<p>Convective self-aggregation (CSA) is an established modelling paradigm for large-scale thunderstorm clusters, as they form in mesoscale convective systems, the Madden-JulianOscillation or tropical cyclo-genesis [1]. The onset of CSA is characterized by the spontaneous formation of persistently dry patches with suppressed deep convective rainfall. Recently another type of spatio-temporal pattern formation was observed in simulations where the diurnal cycle was mimicked by a sinusoidally varying surface temperature [2]. This diurnal aggregation (DA) is characterized by clusters of intense rain that correlate negatively from one day to the next. </p><p>Here we demonstrate that the diurnal cycle can also act as a trigger of persistently dry patches resembling the early stages of CSA. When the surface temperature is held constant, CSA has been shown to occur within simulations of coarse horizontal model resolution, but not when the resolution was increased [3]. We show that, when a temporally periodic surface temperature forcing is imposed, persistently convection free patches occur even faster when the spatial resolution is increased. The failure to achieve CSA at high horizontal resolution has so far been attributed to the more pronounced cold pool effects at such resolution. In our simulations these cold pools in fact play a key role in promoting CSA. Our results have implications for the origin of persistent convective organization over continents and the sea — and point a path towards achieving such clustering under realistic conditions.</p><p><br>[1]  Christopher S Bretherton, Peter N Blossey, and Marat Khairoutdinov.  An energy-balance analysisof deep convective self-aggregation above uniform SST.Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 62(12):4273–4292, 2005.<br>[2]  J. O. Haerter, B. Meyer, and S. B. Nissen.  Diurnal self-aggregation.npj Climate and AtmosphericScience, 3:30, 2020.<br>[3]  Caroline  Muller  and  Sandrine  Bony.   What  favors  convective  aggregation  and  why?GeophysicalResearch Letters, 42(13):5626–5634, 2015.  doi:  https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064260.</p>

scholarly journals Microphysical Process Comparison of Three Microphysics Parameterization Schemes in the WRF Model for an Idealized Squall-Line Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (9) ◽  
pp. 3093-3120 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-W. Bao ◽  
S. A. Michelson ◽  
E. D. Grell
Keyword(s):  
Wrf Model ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Front Propagation ◽  
Particle Growth ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Microphysical Process ◽  
Process Comparison ◽  
Freezing Level ◽  
Squall Lines

Abstract Three bulk microphysics schemes with different complexities in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model are compared in terms of the individual microphysical process terms of the hydrometeor mass and number mixing ratio tendency equations in an idealized 2D squall-line case. Through evaluation of these process terms and of hydrometeor size distributions, it is shown that the differences in the simulated population characteristics of snow, graupel, and rainwater are the prominent factors contributing to the differences in the development of the simulated squall lines using these schemes. In this particular case, the gust front propagation speed produced by the Thompson scheme is faster than in the other two schemes during the first 2 h of the simulation because it has a larger dominant graupel size. After 2 h into the simulation, the initially less intense squall lines in the runs using the WSM6 and Morrison schemes start to catch up in intensity and development to the run using the Thompson scheme. Because the dominant size of graupel particles in the runs using the WSM6 and Morrison schemes is smaller, these particles take more time to fall below the freezing level and enhance the rainwater production and its evaporative cooling. In the run using the Thompson scheme, the graupel production slows down at later times while the snow particle growth increases, leading to more snow falling below the freezing level to melt and surpass graupel particle melting in the production of rainwater.

The Response of Simulated Nocturnal Convective Systems to a Developing Low-Level Jet

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 3384-3408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. French ◽  
Matthew D. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Stable Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Stable Boundary ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Central United States ◽  
Low Level Jet

Abstract Some recent numerical experiments have examined the dynamics of initially surface-based squall lines that encounter an increasingly stable boundary layer, akin to what occurs with the onset of nocturnal cooling. The present study builds on that work by investigating the added effect of a developing nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ) on the convective-scale dynamics of a simulated squall line. The characteristics of the simulated LLJ atop a simulated stable boundary layer are based on past climatological studies of the LLJ in the central United States. A variety of jet orientations are tested, and sensitivities to jet height and the presence of low-level cooling are explored. The primary impacts of adding the LLJ are that it alters the wind shear in the layers just above and below the jet and that it alters the magnitude of the storm-relative inflow in the jet layer. The changes to wind shear have an attendant impact on low-level lifting, in keeping with current theories for gust front lifting in squall lines. The changes to the system-relative inflow, in turn, impact total upward mass flux and precipitation output. Both are sensitive to the squall line–relative orientation of the LLJ. The variations in updraft intensity and system-relative inflow are modulated by the progression of the low-level cooling, which mimics the development of a nocturnal boundary layer. While the system remains surface-based, the below-jet shear has the largest impact on lifting, whereas the above-jet shear begins to play a larger role as the system becomes elevated. Similarly, as the system becomes elevated, larger changes to system-relative inflow are observed because of the layer of potentially buoyant inflowing parcels becoming confined to the layer of the LLJ.

The Interaction of Simulated Squall Lines with Idealized Mountain Ridges

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (7) ◽  
pp. 1919-1941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Frame ◽  
Paul Markowski
Keyword(s):  
Squall Line ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Advanced Regional Prediction System ◽  
Topographic Features ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Regional Prediction ◽  
Cloud Resolving Model ◽  
Orographic Enhancement ◽  
Flow Transitions

Abstract Numerical simulations of squall lines traversing sinusoidal mountain ridges are performed using the Advanced Regional Prediction System cloud-resolving model. Precipitation and updraft strength are enhanced through orographic ascent as a squall line approaches a ridge. The simulated squall line then weakens as it descends the ridge because some of the cold pool is blocked by the terrain, resulting in less lift along the gust front and weaker convective cells. The flow within the cold pool accelerates slightly and the depth of the cold air decreases owing to upstream blocking, transitioning the flow in the cold pool head from subcritical to supercritical, then back to subcritical at the bottom of the ridge. A hydraulic jump forms when the flow transitions the second time, enabling the development of a new convective line downwind of the mountain. These new updrafts grow and eventually replace the older updrafts that weakened during descent. This process results in the discrete propagation of a squall line just downstream of a ridge, resulting in the formation of rain shadows downstream from topographic features. Discrete propagation only occurs if a ridge is of sufficient height, however. This replacement process repeats itself if a squall line encounters multiple ridges. The risk of damaging winds from a squall line is greater on the lee side of ridges and on the top of high ridges. These terrain-forced intensity fluctuations increase with mountain height, because the higher terrain permits even less cold air to flow over it. A wider ridge results in a more gradual orographic enhancement and downslope-induced weakening.

scholarly journals Use of a Rain Gauge Network to Infer the Influence of Environmental Factors on the Propagation of Quasi-Linear Convective Systems in West Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1016-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon M. Schrage ◽  
Andreas H. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Propagation Rate ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
West African ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Propagation Characteristics ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Radiosonde Station ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The West African squall line is a key quasi-linear storm system that brings much of the precipitation observed in the data-poor Sudanian climate zone. Squall lines propagate at a wide range of speeds and headings, but the lack of operational radar stations in the region makes quantifying the propagation of the squall lines difficult. A new method of estimating the propagation rate and heading for squall lines is proposed. Based on measurements of the time of onset of precipitation (OOP) at a network of rain gauge stations, an estimate of the propagation characteristics of the squall line can be inferred. By combining estimates of propagation rate with upper-air observations gathered at a nearby radiosonde station, the impact of various environmental factors on the propagation characteristics of West African squall lines is inferred. Results suggest that the propagation speed for West African squall lines is related to the conditions at midtropospheric levels, where dry air and an enhanced easterly flow favor faster propagation. Northerly anomalies at these levels are also associated with faster propagation. When applied to West African squall lines, the correlations between these environmental factors and the speed of propagation are significantly higher than those of methods developed for mesoscale convective systems in other parts of the world.

A Squall-Line-Like Principal Rainband in Typhoon Hagupit (2008) Observed by Airborne Doppler Radar

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 2733-2746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaowen Tang ◽  
Wen-Chau Lee ◽  
Michael Bell
Keyword(s):  
Wind Shear ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Squall Lines ◽  
Convective Cells

Abstract This study examines the structure and dynamics of Typhoon Hagupit’s (2008) principal rainband using airborne radar and dropsonde observations. The convection in Hagupit’s principal rainband was organized into a well-defined line with trailing stratiform precipitation on the inner side. Individual convective cells had intense updrafts and downdrafts and were aligned in a wavelike pattern along the line. The line-averaged vertical cross section possessed a slightly inward-tilting convective core and two branches of low-level inflow feeding the convection. The result of a thermodynamic retrieval showed a pronounced cold pool behind the convective line. The horizontal and vertical structures of this principal rainband show characteristics that are different than the existing conceptual model and are more similar to squall lines and outer rainbands. The unique convective structure of Hagupit’s principal rainband was associated with veering low-level vertical wind shear and large convective instability in the environment. A quantitative assessment of the cold pool strength showed that it was quasi balanced with that of the low-level vertical wind shear. The balanced state and the structural characteristics of convection in Hagupit’s principal rainband were dynamically consistent with the theory of cold pool dynamics widely applied to strong and long-lived squall lines. The analyses suggest that cold pool dynamics played a role in determining the principal rainband structure in addition to storm-scale vortex dynamics.

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