Mesoscale structure of precipitation bands in a North Atlantic winter storm

Abstract

Two wide regions of precipitation separated by a narrow band were observed at low levels by airborne radar. These regions were aligned parallel to the cold front and were sampled by aircraft at three different levels. The calculated mesoscale frontogenetical forcing is dominated at low levels by confluence and at mid-levels by the tilting term. The absolute magnitudes are smaller than those reported by Shapiro, and Bond and Fleagle, and are consistent with the broader and less intense front in this study. The frontogenetical forcing due to melting of ice crystals was estimated from observations of precipitation particles. -from Authors