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Rapid evolution of a jet streak circulation in a pre-convective environment

Die schnelle Entwicklung einer Jetstreak-Zirkulation unter vorkonvektiven Bedingungen

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Summary

An analysis of upper- and lower-tropospheric jet streaks and their associated vertical circulations prior to and during the Red River Valley severe weather outbreak of 10 April 1979 is presented utilizing the three-hourly SESAME data sets. The paper emphasizes the transformation of a transverse indirect circulation within the exit region of an upper-level jet streak (ULJ) in which the cross-contour components of the upper-level ageostrophic flow diminish in magnitude and reverse direction as the circulation's ascending branch shifts from the cyclonic-shear side to a position along the axis of the ULJ. The change in character of the vertical circulation over a 3- to 6h period appears to be related to the increasing cyclonic curvature associated with the propagation and amplification of a short-wavelength trough embedded within cyclonic flow.

A low-level jet (LLJ) forms initially within the lower branch of the indirect circulation across Texas and later intensifies, in large part, as a response to a propagating and amplifying short-wavelength trough. However, the lack of a corresponding increase of upperlevel mass divergence during this period points to the possibility also influence the low-level Montgomery streamfunction (ψm) tendencies that are a significant contributor to the forcing for the LLJ. The three-hourly data also indicate that differential advections associated with jet streak circulations and boundary layer heating can change markedly over very short periods of time and act to destabilize convectively relatively small regions immediately prior to convective outbreaks. The premise that pre-convective environments evolve over a synoptic time- and space-scale (while only the release of the convective instability occurs on the mesoscale) may, therefore, not be correct.

Zusammenfassung

Es wird eine Analyse von Jetstreaks der höheren und unteren Troposphäre und die damit verbundenen vertikalen Zirkulationen vor und während des Unwetters beim Red River Valley vom 10. April 1979 mit Hilfe der dreistündlichen SESAME-Daten vorgestellt. Die Arbeit betont die Transformation der Normalkomponente der indirekten Zirkulation im Endbereich eines Jetstreaks im oberen Niveau (ULJ). Hier verringert sich diese Komponente der ageostrophischen Strömung und kehrt ihre Richtung um, wobei der aufsteigende Ast sich von der Seite der zyklonalen Scherung auf eine Position bei der Achse des ULJ verschiebt. Diese änderung der vertikalen Zirkulation in 3 bis 6 Stunden scheint mit der vermehrten zyklonalen Krümmung, die mit dem Fortschreiten und der Verstärkung eines kurzwelligen in die zyklonale Strömung eingebetteten Troges verbunden ist, einherzugehen.

Ein Jetstream im unteren Niveau (LLJ) entsteht zuerst im unteren Ast der indirekten Zirkulation über Texas und verstärkt sich später großteils aufgrund der Veränderung des kurzwelligen Troges. Das Fehlen einer entsprechenden Massendivergenz im oberen Niveau deutet jedenfalls darauf hin, daß Prozesse in der planetaren Grenzschicht (PBL) ebenfalls die Änderungen in der Montgomery Stromfunktion (ψm) beeinflussen, die einen wichtigen Beitrag für den Antrieb des LLJ darstellen. Die dreistündlichen Daten weisen ebenfalls darauf hin, daß unterschiedliche Advektionen, die mit Jetstreak-Zirkulationen verbunden sind und die Erwärmung in der Grenzschicht sich in kurzer Zeit deutlich ändern und unmittelbar vor konvektiven Ausbrüchen relativ kleine Gebiete destabilisieren können. Daher mag die Annahme, daß sich vorkonvektive Bedingungen in einem synoptischen Zeit-und Raumscale entwickeln (während nur das Freiwerden der konvektiven Instabilität im Mesoscale auftritt) nicht richtig sein.

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  1. P. J. Kocin, L. W. Uccellini & R. A. Petersen

    Present address: Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 612, 20771, Greenbelt, Md., USA

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    1. P. J. Kocin
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    2. L. W. Uccellini
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    3. R. A. Petersen
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    Kocin, P.J., Uccellini, L.W. & Petersen, R.A. Rapid evolution of a jet streak circulation in a pre-convective environment. Meteorl. Atmos. Phys. 35, 103–138 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01026169

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