The phase of precipitation formed within the atmosphere is highly dependent on the vertical temperature profile through which it falls. In particular, several precipitation types can form in an environment with a melting layer aloft and a refreezing layer below. These precipitation types include freezing rain, ice pellets, wet snow, and slush. To examine the formation of such precipitation, a bulk microphysics scheme was used to compare the characteristics of the hydrometeors produced by the model and observed by a research aircraft flight during the 1998 ice storm near Montreal, Canada. The model reproduced several of the observed key precipitation characteristics. Sensitivity tests on the precipitation types formed during the ice storm were also performed. These tests utilized temperature profiles produced by the North American Regional Reanalysis. The results show that small variations (60.58C) in the temperature profiles as well as in the precipitation rate can have major impacts on the types of precipitation formed at the surface. These results impose strong requirements on the accuracy needed by prediction models.

This article examines the types of winter precipitation that occur near 0°C, specifically rain, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, ice pellets, snow pellets, and wet snow. It follows from a call by M. Ralph et al. for more attention to be paid to this precipitation since it represents one of the most serious wintertime quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) issues. The formation of the many precipitation types involves ice-phase and/or liquid-phase processes, and thresholds in the degree of melting and/or freezing often dictate the types occurring at the surface. Some types can occur simultaneously so that, for example, ensuing collisions between supercooled raindrops and ice pellets that form ice pellet aggregates can lead to substantial reductions in the occurrence of freezing rain at the surface, and ice crystal multiplication processes can lead to locally produced ice crystals in the subfreezing layer below inversions. Highly variable fall velocities within the background temperature and wind fields of precipitation-type transition regions lead to varying particle trajectories and significant alterations in the distribution of precipitation amount and type at the surface. Physically based predictions that account for at least some of the phase changes and particle interactions are now in operation. Outstanding issues to be addressed include the impacts of accretion on precipitation-type formation, quantification of melting and freezing rates of the highly variable precipitation, the consequences of collisions between the various types, and the onset of ice nucleation and its effects. The precipitation physics perspective of this article furthermore needs to be integrated into a comprehensive understanding involving the surrounding and interacting environment.

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A catastrophic rain event occurred in early June 2002 during a major drought over the Canadian Prairies. The storm brought record-breaking rainfall and major flooding to many locations in the region. Given the importance of this event, this study's overall objectives are to characterize and to understand the physical nature of the rainstorm better. The event was associated with a major extratropical cyclone which acted in concert with the Great Plains low-level jet to transport a tremendous amount of moisture into the eastern Prairies producing intense diurnal mesoscale convective systems over the region. At the same time, moisture was transported to the western Prairies by a strong easterly low-level jet which produced heavy and long-lived orographic precipitation near the foothills. Several working hypotheses were developed to explain the severity and longevity of the rainstorm; it was found that the Rockies played a central role in the organization and development of the system. Atmospheric features that are critical to the development of an important class of extreme rain events in the Canadian Prairies were also identified. The severity of the June 2002 system is partly a result of the rare co-occurrence of these features during the period. Results from a preliminary analysis show that the atmospheric conditions associated with the extreme background drought enhanced the likelihood of the co-occurrence of these features during spring 2002, hence facilitating the development of the extreme rain event. In return, the tremendous precipitation from the storm alleviated the drought conditions in the southern Prairies.RÉSUMÉ [Traduit par la rédaction] Un événement de pluie catastrophique s'est produit au début de juin 2002 pendant une sécheresse importante dans les Prairies canadiennes. La tempête a produit des chutes de pluie records et des inondations importantes à plusieurs endroits dans la région. Étant donné l'importance de cet événement, les objectifs généraux de la présente étude sont de mieux caractériser et de mieux comprendre la nature physique de la tempête de pluie. L'événement a été causé par une importante dépression extratropicale qui s'est associée au courant-jet à basse altitude des Grandes Plaines pour transporter une énorme quantité d'humidité dans l'est des Prairies et produire d'intenses systèmes convectifs de mésoéchelle diurne dans la région. En même temps, de l'humidité transportée dans l'ouest des Prairies par un fort courant-jet à basse altitude soufflant de l'est a produit d'intenses précipitations orographiques persistantes près des contreforts. Nous avons formulé plusieurs hypothèses de travail pour expliquer l'intensité et la persistance de la tempête de pluie; il ressort que les Rocheuses ont joué un rôle central dans l'organisation et le développement du système.Nous avons aussi identifié les caractéristiques atmosphériques essentielles à la formation d'une catégorie importante d'événements de pluie extrêmes dans les Prairies canadiennes. L'intensité du système de juin 200...