Identification

Title

Observations of freezing drizzle in extratropical cyclonic storms during IMPROVE-2

Abstract

Observations of supercooled drizzle aloft within two storms impacting the Oregon Cascades during the second Improvement Microphysical Parameterization through Observational Verification Experiment IMPROVE-2) field project are presented. The storms were characterized by a structure and evolution similar to the split-front model of synoptic storms. Both storms were also characterized by strong cross-barrier flow. An analysis of aircraft and radar data indicated the presence of supercooled drizzle during two distinct storm periods: 1) the intrafrontal period immediately following the passage of an upper cold front and 2) the postfrontal period. The conditions associated with these regions of supercooled drizzle included 1) temperatures between -3° and -19°C, 2) ice crystal concentrations between 1 and 2 L&#x207B&#x00B9, and 3) bimodal cloud droplet distributions of low concentration [cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration between 20 and 30 cm⁻³ and cloud drop concentration <35 cm⁻³].Unique to this study was the relatively cold cloud top (<-15°C) and relatively high ice crystal concentrations in the drizzle region. These conditions typically hinder drizzle formation and survival; however, the strong flow over the mountain barrier amplified vertical motions (up to 2 m s⁻¹) above local ridges, the mountain crest, and updrafts in embedded convection. These vertical motions produced high condensate supply rates that were able to overcome the depletion by the higher ice crystal concentrations. Additionally, the relatively high vertical motions resulted in a near balance of ice crystal fall speed (0.5-1.0 m s⁻¹), leading to nearly terrain-parallel trajectories of the ice particles and a reduction of the flux of ice crystals from the higher levels into the low-level moisture-rich cloud, allowing the low-level cloud water and drizzle to be relatively undepleted.One of the key observations in the current storms was the persistence of drizzle drops in the presence of significant amounts of ice crystals over the steepest portion of the mountain crest. Despite the high radar reflectivity produced by the ice crystals (>15 dBZ) in this region, the relatively high condensate supply rate led to hazardous icing conditions. The current study reveals that vertical motions generated by local topographic features are critical in precipitation processes such as drizzle formation and thus it is essential that microphysical models predict these motions.

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https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7rf5v88

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eng

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geoscientificInformation

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publication

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2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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publication

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2007-09-01T00:00:00Z

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Copyright 2007 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 USC, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the Society's permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statements, requires written permission or license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policies, available from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or amspubs@ametsoc.org. Permission to place a copy of this work on this server has been provided by the AMS. The AMS does not guarantee that the copy provided here is an accurate copy of the published work.

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OpenSky Support

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UCAR/NCAR - Library

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PO Box 3000

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80307-3000

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opensky@ucar.edu

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