Climatology of westerly wind events in the lee of the Sierra Nevada

A 5-yr climatology of westerly wind events in Owens Valley, California, is derived from data measured by a mesoscale network of 16 automatic weather stations. Thermally driven up- and down-valley flows are found to account for a large part of the diurnal wind variability in this approximately north-south-oriented deep U-shaped valley. High-wind speed events at the western side of the valley deviate from this basic pattern by showing a higher percentage of westerly winds. In general, strong westerly winds in Owens Valley tend to be more persistent and to display higher sustained speeds than strong winds from other quadrants. The highest frequency of strong winds at the valley floor is found in the afternoon hours from April to September, pointing to thermal forcing as a plausible controlling mechanism. However, the most intense westerly wind events (westerly windstorms) can happen at any time of the day throughout the year. The temperature and humidity variations caused by westerly windstorms depend on the properties of the approaching air masses. In some cases, the windstorms lead to overall warming and drying of the valley atmosphere, similar to foehn or chinook intrusions. The key dynamical driver of westerly windstorms in Owens Valley is conjectured to be the downward penetration of momentum associated with mountain waves produced by the Sierra Nevada ridgeline to the west of the valley.

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Copyright 2017 American Meteorological Society (AMS).


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Author Serafin, Stefano
Strauss, Lukas
Grubišić, Vanda
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2017-04-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:25:38.177116
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:19785
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Serafin, Stefano, Strauss, Lukas, Grubišić, Vanda. (2017). Climatology of westerly wind events in the lee of the Sierra Nevada. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7pk0j2q. Accessed 06 February 2025.

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