scholarly journals The unusually long cold spell and the snowstorm Filomena over Spain in January 2021

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Zschenderlein ◽  
Heini Wernli

<p>In January 2021, large parts of Spain were affected by an unusually long cold spell and exceptional snowfall associated with the winter storm Filomena. According to the Spanish weather service AEMET, snow heights of nearly 50 cm were registered in and around Madrid. During the days after Filomena, record-breaking low temperatures were measured at many stations.</p><p>Already during the days before the arrival of storm Filomena, anomalously cold temperatures at 850 hPa and night frosts at the surface prevailed over large parts of Spain. During these days in early January, the air flow towards Spain was predominantly northeasterly and advected cold air masses from Central Europe, as revealed by backward trajectories that were initialised near the surface over Spain. The land surface progressively cooled down during the days prior to the heavy snowfall, which then prevented the snow from melting when reaching the surface. Therefore, this cold spell preconditioning seems to be very important for the extreme consequences of the snowfall event.</p><p>The storm Filomena affected Spain between 8 and 10 January. It developed from a precursor low-pressure system between the Azores and Madeira. The precursor low-pressure system itself developed on 2 January 2021 between the northeastern US and Nova Scotia, rapidly intensified along a potential vorticity (PV) streamer and propagated southeastwards. Between 4 and 6 January, the cyclone, now located near the Azores, was associated with a PV cut-off and eventually decayed into multiple centres. Out of this decaying low-pressure system, Filomena developed and reached Spain on 8 January.</p><p>The most intense snowfall occurred on 9 January and affected large parts of Spain, except for southwestern Spain, where temperatures were too high and all precipitation fell as rain. Filomena was associated with an intense air mass boundary, with dry and cold air in the north and warm and humid air in the south. Equivalent potential temperature differences at 850 hPa across Spain exceeded 20 K. Along the warm frontal part of this air mass boundary, strong ascending airstreams, intensified by the dynamics of Filomena, led to cloud formation. Due to the unusually cold lowermost troposphere, snow was not melting before reaching the land surface, and the surface snow layer could therefore easily grow.</p><p>Overall, the combination of the already cold temperatures near the surface, the optimal position of the air mass boundary, and the dynamical forcing for ascent at this intense baroclinic zone associated with Filomena were essential ingredients for this extreme snow fall event to occur.</p>

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Zschenderlein ◽  
Heini Wernli

Abstract. In early January 2021, Spain was affected by two extreme events – an unusually long cold spell and a heavy snowfall event associated with extratropical cyclone Filomena. For example, up to 50 cm of snow fell in Madrid and the surrounding areas in 4 days. Already during 9 days prior to the snowfall event, anomalously cold temperatures at 850 hPa and night frosts prevailed over large parts of Spain. During this period, anomalously cold and dry air was transported towards Spain from central Europe and even from the Barents Sea. The storm Filomena, which was responsible for major parts of the snowfall event, developed from a precursor low-pressure system over the central North Atlantic. Filomena intensified due to interaction with an upper-level potential vorticity (PV) trough, which was the result of anticyclonic wave breaking over Europe. In turn, this wave breaking was related to an intense surface anticyclone and upper-level ridge, whose formation was strongly influenced by a warm conveyor belt outflow of a cyclone off the coast of Newfoundland. The most intense snowfall occurred on 09 January and was associated with a sharp air mass boundary with an equivalent potential temperature difference at 850 hPa across Spain exceeding 20 K. Overall, the combination of pre-existing cold surface temperatures, the optimal position of the air mass boundary, and the dynamical forcing for ascent induced by Filomena and its associated upper-level trough were all essential – and in parts physically independent – ingredients for this extreme snowfall event to occur.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Deepa Roy ◽  
Md Abdus Samad ◽  
SM Quamrul Hassan

In this paper an effort has been made to simulate the monsoon Low Pressure System (LPS) and its associated rainfall event of 16-20 August, 2013 using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The model was run for 24-h, 48-h and 72-h in a single domain of 10 km horizontal resolution using The National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) high-resolution Global Final (FNL) Analysis 6-hourly data using initial and lateral boundary conditions. WRF double-moment 5 class micro physics scheme, Kain–Fritsch (new Eta) cumulus physics scheme,Yonsei University planetary boundary layer scheme, Revised MM5 surface layer physics scheme, Unified Noah LSM as land surface model, Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTM) for long-wave and Dudhia scheme for short-wave scheme are used for the simulation. The performance of the model is evaluated analyzing Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP), Wind Pattern, Vorticity, Vertical Wind Shear and Rainfall Distribution. The model successfully captured the low pressure system, initial condition, propagation, landfall time and location reasonably well. The model simulated rainfall amount and associated areas sensibly well compared with the observed data by BMD and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 66(1): 29-35, 2018 (January)


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Keighton ◽  
Douglas K. Miller ◽  
David Hotz ◽  
Patrick D. Moore ◽  
L. Baker Perry ◽  
...  

Abstract In late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy tracked along the eastern U.S. coastline and made landfall over New Jersey after turning sharply northwest and becoming posttropical while interacting with a complex upper-level low pressure system that had brought cold air into the Appalachian region. The cold air, intensified by the extreme low pressure tracking just north of the region, combined with deep moisture and topographically enhanced ascent to produce an unusual and high-impact early season northwest flow snow (NWFS) that has no analog in recent history. This paper investigates the importance of the synoptic-scale pattern, forcing mechanisms, moisture characteristics (content, depth, and likely sources), and low-level winds, as well as the evolution of some of these features compared to more typical NWFS events in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Several other aspects of the Sandy snowfall event are investigated, including low-level stability and mountain wave formation as manifested in vertical profiles and radar observations. The importance to operational forecasters of recognizing and understanding these factors and differences from more common NWFS events is also discussed.


1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alonso ◽  
A. Portela ◽  
C. Ramis

Abstract. During the summer a thermal low-pressure system is locked over the Iberian Peninsula. We present a first analysis of such a system using the potential vorticity approach. Our results show that its main characteristic is the existence of a negative potential vorticity (PV) dome and a funnel-like structure for potential temperature, both located at the centre of the low. The build-up and evolution of this PV dome can be understood in terms of the dot products of the absolute vorticity and the gradient of diabetic heating vectors and the curl of the friction forces and the gradient of potential temperature vectors. The inhibition of the Algerian Mediterranean cyclogenesis during the summer seems to bear some relation to the existence of this kind of low-pressure disturbance over the Iberian Peninsula.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Sjögren ◽  
Carlos Xisto ◽  
Tomas Grönstedt

Abstract The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of matching a cycle performance model to public data on a state-of-the-art commercial aircraft engine (GEnx-1B). The study is focused on obtaining valuable information on figure of merits for the technology level of the low-pressure system and associated uncertainties. It is therefore directed more specifically towards the fan and low-pressure turbine efficiencies, the Mach number at the fan-face, the distribution of power between the core and the bypass stream as well as the fan pressure ratio. Available cycle performance data have been extracted from the engine emission databank provided by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), type certificate datasheets from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as well as publicly available data from engine manufacturer. Uncertainties in the available source data are estimated and randomly sampled to generate inputs for a model matching procedure. The results show that fuel performance can be estimated with some degree of confidence. However, the study also indicates that a high degree of uncertainty is expected in the prediction of key low-pressure system performance metrics, when relying solely on publicly available data. This outcome highlights the importance of statistic-based methods as a support tool for the inverse design procedures. It also provides a better understanding on the limitations of conventional thermodynamic matching procedures, and the need to complement with methods that take into account conceptual design, cost and fuel burn.


1978 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kirsch ◽  
A. Ameln ◽  
H. J. Wicke

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Cheol Kim ◽  
Soontae Kim ◽  
Seok-Woo Son ◽  
Pius Lee ◽  
Chun-Sil Jin ◽  
...  

Abstract. We demonstrate that daily pollutant transport patterns in East Asia are visible from satellite images when inspected with corresponding synoptic weather analyses. Transport pathways of air pollutants in East Asia are investigated using satellite observations, surface weather charts, and chemical-transport model simulations. It is found that during cool season (fall to spring), pollutant transports in East Asia are largely determined by synoptic weather patterns associated with high pressure system over southern China, which is extended from the Siberia High, and low pressure system over Manchuria, which is initiated by Altai-Sayan cyclogenesis. Based on the relative location and strength of these weather systems, three types of synoptic weather patterns that may contribute to pollutants transport in East Asia, especially in China and Korea, are identified: i.e., (1) a strengthening of the Siberian High and its southeastward propagation; (2) a high-pressure system over southern China followed by a frontal passage associated with a northern low-pressure system; and (3) a stagnant high-pressure system over southern China. For all three patterns, the high-pressure system in southern China is essential for the development of regional air pollution, while frontal activities associated with low-pressure system provide a forcing mechanism to transport those pollutants eastward or southeastward. Observed and simulated surface PM distributions show good agreement in both aerosol optical depth and NO2 column density further implying that anthropogenic emissions also contribute to regional events of high surface PM concentrations. It is argued that the quasi-periodic migration of synoptic weather systems in East Asia works as an efficient pump of pollutants; i.e., regional air pollutions developed under high-pressure systems are transported downstream by low-pressure systems.


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