Dynamical forcing and mesoscale organization of precipitation bands in a midwest winter cyclonic storm

A winter snowstorm developed on 10-11 February 1988 over the midwestern United States and produced several inches of snowfall locally over east-central Illinois. Analysis of the mesoscale organization of the storm revealed the presence of complex banded structure throughout its 17-h evolution. Three...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly weather review 1991-04, Vol.119 (4), p.936-964
Main Authors: SHIELDS, M. T, RAUBER, R. M, RAMAMURTHY, M. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Convection, turbulence, diffusion. Boundary layer structure and dynamics
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorology
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Summary:A winter snowstorm developed on 10-11 February 1988 over the midwestern United States and produced several inches of snowfall locally over east-central Illinois. Analysis of the mesoscale organization of the storm revealed the presence of complex banded structure throughout its 17-h evolution. Three distinct types of mesoscale precipitation bands were identified during the course of the storm using a 10-cm Doppler radar as part of the University of Illinois Winter Precipitation Program. The bands had different orientations, directions of movement, relationships to synoptic-scale frontal zones, and mechanisms for development. The mesoscale organization of this storm system is reviewed. Mesoscale, synoptic-scale, and Doppler analyses of the storm structure are presented. The role of boundary-layer convergence, conditional symmetric instability, and frontogenetical forcing in the formation and maintenance of the different mesoscale precipitation bands is discussed.(DBO)
ISSN:0027-0644
1520-0493
DOI:10.1175/1520-0493(1991)119<0936:DFAMOO>2.0.CO;2