Some aspects of a northwestern Australian cloudband

Abstract

Broadscale and regional-scale aspects of a northwest cloudband which brought significant rainfall to central Australia are examined. The cloudband occurred during the second Special Observing Period of the First GARP Global Experiment and the analysis is significantly impacted by the availability of TIROS-N data, Geostationary Meteorological Satellite imagery and GMS cloud winds. The predominant mechanisms for the cloudband are identified and the roles of baroclinicity and a cut-off cold pool are discussed. A notable feature in the Alice Springs area is the role of precipitation from middle-level cloud in the formation of low-level stratus.