Radar Echoes From a Cloudless Cold Front

Ligda, Myron G. H.; Bigler, Stuart G.

doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1958)015<0494:refacc>2.0.co;2

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…air. Ligda and Bigler (1958) observed bands in radar imagery behind two cold fronts over southern Texas. Snow from HCRs over land is even rarer, as documented precipitating cold-season HCRs are generally lake-effect snowbands that occur over and downstream of lakes (Holroyd 1971;Kelly 1982;Kristovich 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snowbands during the Cold-Air Outbreak of 23 January 2003

Schultz¹,

Arndt²,

Stensrud³

et al. 2004

Mon. Wea. Rev.

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A cold-air outbreak east of the Rocky Mountains on 23 January 2003 produced banded clouds and snow across the central and southeastern United States. The bands occurred through two processes: 1) thermal instability in the planetary boundary layer produced horizontal convective rolls (HCRs) over widespread areas, and 2) lake-effect processes downstream of small lakes (fetch Ͻ 100 km) produced localized bands. Characteristics of the observed bands associated with the HCRs, such as horizontal scale, depth of circulation, orientation, duration, and dynamics, are explored through observations, previous literature, and theoretical models. Snow from clouds produced by HCRs over land during the cold season has not been extensively studied previously. In this event, cold-air advection over the warm ground led to an upward sensible heat flux, promoting the occurrence of the HCR circulations. As the surface temperature decreased, the height of the lifting condensation level decreased, eventually forming cloud bands within the ascending portion of the HCR circulations. Ice crystals are inferred to have fallen from a large-scale precipitation system aloft into the cloud bands in the planetary boundary layer, which was within the favored temperature regime for dendritic growth of ice crystals. The ice crystals grew and reached the surface as light snow. This seeder-feeder process suggests one way to anticipate development of such snowbands in the future, as demonstrated by other similar events on other days in Oklahoma and Illinois. As the cloud bands were advected equatorward, they ingested drier air and dissipated. Among the several lakeeffect bands observed on 23 January 2003, one notable band occurred downwind of Lake Kentucky. Midlake convergence of the land breeze may have initially produced a narrow cloud band that broadened as the land breeze ended. That the snowbands due to the HCRs and lake effect were both associated with heat and/or moisture fluxes from the earth's surface highlights the potential importance of ground-and water-surface temperature measurements for accurate numerical weather prediction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snowbands during the Cold-Air Outbreak of 23 January 2003

Schultz¹,

Arndt²,

Stensrud³

et al. 2004

Mon. Wea. Rev.

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“…A network of radars with partially overlapping coverage has been available in parts of the United States since the 1950s. Ligda (1957) demonstrated its usefulness for depicting the overall structure of precipitation systems by manually combining the data from different radars in the form of series of montages. For forecasting purposes, however, it is necessary to composite the data automatically and virtually in real time.…”

Section: Forecasting By Simple Extrapolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological applications of radar

Browning

1978

Rep. Prog. Phys.

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Radar has been used by meteorologists for 30 years or so but it is only during the latter half of this period that the full measure of its versatility has come to be recognised. Operationally important techniques have been or are being developed to identify and track severe storms, to provide warning of tornadoes, to measure and forecast rainfall quantitatively, and to measure winds, turbulence and wind shear. At the same time research meteorologists are using specialised radar techniques to investigate many poorly understood aspects of atmospheric behaviour : to identify the physics of clear air turbulence, the dynamics of fronts, the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer, the three-dimensional airflow and trajectories of hailstones in thunderstorms, and the patterns of precipitation within mid-latitude depressions. Studies such as these are giving fresh impetus to a branch of meteorology, mesoscale meteorology, which largely because of the difficulty of obtaining definitive observations has hitherto been a neglected field. This review highlights the strengths and limitations of radar as a tool for observing the atmosphere and attempts to provide a balanced view of its many applications in meteorology.

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Perspectives on Fred Sanders’ Research on Cold Fronts

Schultz¹

2008

Synoptic—Dynamic Meteorology and Weather Analysis and Forecasting

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Radar Echoes From a Cloudless Cold Front

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Snowbands during the Cold-Air Outbreak of 23 January 2003

Snowbands during the Cold-Air Outbreak of 23 January 2003

Meteorological applications of radar

Perspectives on Fred Sanders’ Research on Cold Fronts

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